Labels, containers, system and method for providing reagents

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to systems and methods for marketing and using products such as liquid materials, especially liquid reagents for use in microbiological and cellular biological laboratory settings include the use of unique color and simple numeric or alphanumeric identifiers to quickly and easily identify any product from a catalog list of products. Methods of marketing, advertising and producing such products are also disclosed. Particular embodiments include products, product packaging and product labeling. The invention also relates to collars and sleeves for containers, as well as related methods of use.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/704,866, filed Aug. 1, 2005, the entire disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

N/A

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the fields of molecular and cellular biology, particularly in alaboratory setting, it is of vital importance that the correct reagentsand media are used in every instance, including use on the bench or in asterile hood, and when selecting, ordering or re-ordering supplies.There are various factors that exist in a laboratory setting that canmake this more difficult and less efficient. For example, bottles ofmedia and sera are often stored in refrigerators where condensation maycause labels to be hard to read, and the important information may besmall print that is easily obscured by moisture, user writing to labeland identify additions, or other information about a particular bottlesuch as the user's initials, date opened, etc. Another difficulty is themanual dexterity required for sterile transfer of materials from areagent or media bottle. Laboratory workers routinely wear protectivegloves and must hold a pipette in one hand while also holding andopening a bottle, all while maintaining the sterility of the pipette,the cover and the contents of the bottle. Prior to the presentdisclosure, it has been difficult to quickly identify with assurance thecontents of a particular bottle. This concern is of particularimportance in the context of cell culture media bottles where mixingculture media types or solutions can have disastrous effects on researchprojects, greatly increasing the cost and time associated. Often,different types of media are indistinguishable by merely looking at thecontents, requiring reading of small print, or re-orienting a bottle inorder to positively identify the contents.

Although conventional labels often include the name of the productfamily in large type on the front of the bottle, it may be difficult todistinguish exactly what product is in the bottle, particularly if thereare user annotations covering part of the label. For example, a certainlabel may identify the contents as a certain media, such as a basalmedia, but it may not be as clear that the content is basalmedia+glucose. Extra time and extra steps are needed, therefore, todetermine exactly which product is being used, and to find a catalognumber for re-ordering. Although a particular instance of wasted timemight be small, they can collectively consume excessive amounts of timewhen one considers that within a single laboratory these actions maytake place tens or even hundreds of times within a day.

In addition to difficulty in identifying the contents of a bottle,conventional bottles typically do not offer both storage efficiency andversatility. As all storage devices, refrigerators, incubators,freezers, shakers, stirrers, hoods, culture rooms, etc., do not have thesame layout and dimensions, adaptability and versatility in the storagecapabilities of bottles can be a significant problem. One type ofconventional bottle is the round bottle shown in FIG. 1. This bottleshape results in inefficient use of space when stored, due to dead spacebetween bottles and the inability to stably stack bottles on top of eachother. Another type of conventional media bottle is a square bottle asshown in FIG. 2. Although these bottles can more efficiently abut otherbottles both from the side and the front, they cannot be stored on aside and stacked on top of one another without the contents of thebottle coming in contact with the lid. Content contact with the lid canpotentially cause leakage or contamination resulting in increased costs,lost research time, and a lack of supplies. Another disadvantage is thatwhen the bottles are stored side by side in rows, only the labels of thefront row can be seen without lifting the bottles to reveal a label.Furthermore, the caps are not easily accessible and the tops of the capscannot be seen without lifting the bottle or looking directly down fromabove, which is not possible in many storage situations such as in arefrigerator. As all storage devices, refrigerators, incubators,freezers, shakers, stirrers, hoods, culture rooms, etc., do not have thesame layout and dimensions, adaptability and versatility in the storagecapabilities of bottles can be a major source of inefficiency.

Prior to this disclosure, there have been few or no attempts to solvethese problems, especially in the fields of microbiology and cellularbiology where conventional round and square media bottles are almostuniversally used. A mixing station for chemicals used in cleaning andmaintenance supplies using a color coded system has been disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 6,322,242. This patent discloses the use of various colorcoded elements, including caps, labels, valve members, and liquid outletlines, to identify how the components should be assembled with respectto one another. This does not teach, however, a system of providingsolid or liquid products that are appropriate or useful formicrobiological or other research media, particularly to be used withsterile technique, and utilizing color coded covers or caps,corresponding color coded labels, or specially designed bottles tofacilitate ease of identification of the contents of a bottle duringstorage, use, and re-supplying.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed, in part, to compositions and methodsrelated to labels and/or containers. These labels and/or containers maybe used in a variety of manners, such as for identifying and containingmaterials. Further uses include various methods such as methods forstoring and/or dispensing materials. Additional methods include thoserelated to business (e.g., methods related to (1) simplification ofordering or re-ordering materials, (2) inducing, persuading or enticingpotential customer or customers to order or re-order particularproducts, etc.).

In particular embodiments, containers of the invention may be composedof six or more (e.g., six, seven, eight, nine, ten, etc.) panels orsides. An exemplary container of the invention which contains sevenpanels is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. Thus, in particular embodiments, theinvention includes container with seven panels. The panels of suchcontainer may comprise:

(i) a front panel and back panel, each of which is square or rectangularin shape (e.g., a front panel and back panel having a height to widthratio of between about 1.0 to about 1.0 and about 5.0 to about 1.0,between about 1.0 to about 1.0 and about 4.0 to about 1.0, between about1.0 to about 1.0 and about 3.5 to about 1.0, between about 1.0 to about1.0 and about 3.0 to about 1.0, between about 1.0 to about 1.0 and about2.5 to about 1.0, between about 1.0 to about 1.0 and about 2.0 to about1.0, between about 1.0 to about 1.0 and about 1.5 to about 1.0, betweenabout 1.5 to about 1.0 and about 5.0 to about 1.0, between about 2.0 toabout 1.0 and about 5.0 to about 1.0, between about 2.5 to about 1.0 andabout 5.0 to about 1.0, between about 3.0 to about 1.0 and about 5.0 toabout 1.0, between about 3.5 to about 1.0 and about 5.0 to about 1.0,between about 4.0 to about 1.0 and about 5.0 to about 1.0, etc.);

(ii) two side panels (see, e.g., FIGS. 26A-26C) each having five edges,wherein two of the edges are vertical edges which are parallel to eachother, wherein one of the edges is a horizontal edge that is located atthe bottom of the panel, and two of the edges are angled, upper edgeswhich each extend upward from different vertical edges and meet to forman upside down V;

(iii) a base panel which is square or rectangular in shape; and

(iv) two angled, upper panels which are square or rectangular in shape;

wherein the above panels are referred to/identified with reference tothe container resting on the base panel.

The total inner volume of containers described herein, such as a sevensided container as described above, will to a large extent be determinedby the length, width, and height dimensions of the panels which form thecontainer. Again using a container of the type shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 asan example, in many instances where the individual members within thetwo sets of parallel panels (e.g., (1) the side panels and (2) the frontand back panels) are of the same overall dimensions, the total innervolume of the container will be determined, to a large extent by thelengths A, B, C, D, E, and/or I shown in FIGS. 26A-26C and FIG. 27. Thelength H being the height of the rectangular portion of the side panels.The length C being the width of the container. The length I being thedepth of the container as defined by the width of an angled upper panel.

Shapes of containers described herein may be at least partially definedwith reference to lengths A, C, and I shown in FIGS. 26A-26C and FIG.27. The ratio of A:C:I may vary greatly. The ratio of A:C, A:I, and/orC:I, for example, can each independently be in the range of from about0.25:1.0 to about 5.0:1.0, from about 0.5:1.0 to about 5.0:1.0, fromabout 0.75:1.0 to about 5.0:1.0, from about 1.0:1.0 to about 5.0:1.0,from about 1.5:1.0 to about 5.0:1.0, from about 2.0:1.0 to about5.0:1.0, from about 2.5:1.0 to about 5.0:1.0, from about 3.0:1.0 toabout 5.0:1.0, from about 3.5:1.0 to about 5.0:1.0, from about 4.0:1.0to about 5.0:1.0, from about 1.0:1.0 to about 4.0:1.0, from about1.0:1.0 to about 3.0:1.0, from about 1.0:1.0 to about 2.5:1.0, fromabout 1.0:1.0 to about 2.0:1.0, from about 1.5:1.0 to about 5.0:1.0,from about 1.5:1.0 to about 4.0:1.0, from about 1.5:1.0 to about3.0:1.0, from about 1.5:1.0 to about 2.5:1.0, from about 2.0:1.0 toabout 5.0:1.0, from about 2.0:1.0 to about 4.0:1.0, from about 2.0:1.0to about 3.5:1.0, from about 2.0:1.0 to about 3.0:1.0, from about2.5:1.0 to about 5.0:1.0, from about 3.0:1.0 to about 5.0:1.0, etc.

As one skilled in the art would recognize, if any one of lengths A, C,or I is small, with respect to one or both of the other lengths, thecontainer may be unstable when placed on one or more panel. Thus, inmany instances, consideration will be given to designing containersdescribed herein which can be rested on a surface in a manner whichminimizes the chance that the container will tip over after beingcontacted with a relatively small amount of kinetic energy (e.g., isbumped at low velocity, such as a velocity less than 0.5 inch/second, bya mass less than one half that of the container when empty).

As an example, when the ratio of A:C:I is 2.0:2.0:1.0, exemplarydimensions for A:C:I include 2 inches:2 inches; 1 inch and 6 inches:6inches:3 inches. In such an instance, the A:C ratio may be referred toas 1.0:1.0, the A:I and C:I ratios may be referred to as 1.0:0.5.

Containers described above and elsewhere herein may further contain anopening in at least one of the angled, upper panels. Further, thisopening may be designed to accept a cover, such as a cap or lid. Thus,the opening may contain a raised portion (see, e.g., FIGS. 27A and 27B,lengths F and G) which may be threaded.

Further, containers described herein may have an inner volume whichvaries considerably but include the ranges of from about 25 millilitersto about 1000 milliliters; from about 75 milliliters to about 500milliliters; from about 125 milliliters to about 500 milliliters; fromabout 250 milliliters to about 1000 milliliters; from about 250milliliters to about 500 milliliters; from about 5 milliliters to about1000 milliliters; from about 5 milliliters to about 5000 milliliters;from about 25 milliliters to about 5000 milliliters; and from about 125milliliters to about 5000 milliliters.

The present disclosure is directed, in part, to systems and methods ofpackaging, storing, using, and/or marketing of products. Such productsinclude, for example, products for use in the biological sciences suchas molecular biology and cellular biology, including but not limited tocell culture, stem cell culture, protein, nucleic acid and ribonucleicacid utilization and research, pharmaceuticals, and other industrial andacademic laboratory research and production, as well as variouscompositions of matter. The disclosure and the invention are directed,in part, to labels and containers described herein and/or used in suchmethods. The invention provides, in part, improved and efficientpackaging, labeling, storage, marketing and methods of use of suchsystems that provide benefits to the users and to the providers of suchproducts and services. Certain advantages are provided by the individualcomponents of the systems and methods disclosed herein and by thecombination of any of these elements. As such, disclosed inventionsherein include both the individual components and the combinedcomponents of the disclosure.

Although aspects of the invention are described herein as relating, forexample, to various embodiments that include cell culture reagentsincluding media and sera, other aspects of the invention are directed toother products, both solid and liquid that may be included in thedescribed systems. For example, buffers, salts, salt solutions,nutrients, carbohydrates, carbohydrate solutions, proteins, proteinsolutions, amino acids, amino acid solutions, nucleic or ribonucleicacid solutions, vitamins, lipids, reagents, enzymes, growth factors,attachment factors, cytokines, antibiotics, mammalian cells, insectcells, dyes, acid solutions, base solutions, solvents, and otherproducts known in the art as well as combinations of any of these canalso be packaged and marketed within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

The disclosure may also be characterized in certain embodiments asstorage and/or containment systems for solid or liquid materialproducts, including scientific products or products for use in thebiological arts, wherein the material products are marketed to aplurality of users, either through a catalog, for example, or throughcustom ordering. The disclosed systems can include containers for aplurality of materials, wherein a container includes a color codeassociated with a family of products or group of products and/or anumber, alphabetic, alphanumeric, other character or a combination ofthese associated with a product within that family or group. Inparticular embodiments, products can be identified by a color and ashort identifier; and further the color code and identifier can beprominently displayed on a container and/or any packaging material forease of identification by a user. It is understood that the system canalso include a number or an alphanumeric identifier or other indicatorof four or more digits or characters, but it is an essence of thedisclosure that the identifier has as few numbers and letters as ispractical. The systems may thus be optimized by determining the numberof characters that are easily retained by workers in biologicallaboratories on an empirical basis.

In certain embodiments, the disclosed systems can include containershaving labels attached to one or more sides of the container andoptionally wherein the container further includes a cover, or cap, andwherein the color and/or the identification code are prominentlydisplayed on the labels on one or more sides of the container and alsooptionally prominently displayed on the cover, as well as on systemsthat include such containers. It is understood that common practice inthe art is to produce labels separately from the containers and coversand then to affix labels to a container or cover with an adhesive, butthe present disclosure is not so limited, and labels as described anddisclosed herein may be partially or completely printed, painted,sprayed, dyed, or screened onto the surface, or embossed, extruded,mixed, or molded into the material of the container or cover itself. Forexample, the material of a cover or container may also be produced in acertain color in harmony with the color coding embodiments disclosedherein. The labels can also include color coded materials including butnot limited to stickers, shrink wrap, tags, or tabs that are removablefrom a container or cover. It is a further aspect of the disclosure thatin certain embodiments the removable items may be separately supplied toa user from a supplier such that certain aspects of the labels or coversmay be provided separately and applied to a container by a user.

While the disclosure is described herein in terms of particularembodiments, it is evident to those of skill in the art that otherconfigurations of containers may offer some or all of the same or likeadvantages and that all such containers usable in the described systemfall within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. For example,as described herein a container may be a bottle, jar, bag, drum, box,bucket or secondary packaging product or like container. The containersmay be composed of any suitable material, depending on the contents tobe contained and may comprise materials including, but not limited toglass, plastics, silicone, polymers such as high density polyethylene(HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), polyethylene terephthalate(PET), glycol modified polyethylene terephthalate (PETG), polycarbonate(PC), polypropylene copolymer (PPCO), polypropylene (PP), fluorinatedethylene-propylene resin (FEP), perfluoralkoxy, (PFA), fluorinated highdensity polyethylene (FLPE), ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), polyvinylchloride (PVC), or stainless steel. Any of the containers can comprisemultiple layers or coatings for a product contact layer, for example,wherein the coating or layer may comprise a silicone, silane or siliconeor silane derivative, a gas impermeable layer or a tetrafluorethylene(Teflon®).

As such the disclosure can include containers of various shapes, sizesand capacities, and could include, but is not limited to a wedge typebottle having a generally triangular shape with rounded edges; abook-like bottle with a hinged, vertically opening cover, an angledaccess opening, and large flat surfaces for easy user labeling andannotation; a two chamber squeezable bottle with a large access openingand a screw-off upper chamber, such as one that transfers liquid fromthe bottom chamber into the top chamber through a central tube whensqueezed; a cone shaped bottle designed to accept slip-on conical userlabels, a two layer bottle with a soft, collapsible inner layer and aharder outer shell and comprising a prominent flap for user labeling; awide-mouthed bottle with an angled body to allow for easy handling andlabel viewing; a slide-top bottle with a large top permitting a dualopening lid for pipetting and pouring; a flat, stackable bottle withlarge areas for user labeling or annotation and a low angled accessopening for easy pipetting; a flexible top bottle, or a toggle topbottle with a slot in the handle that accepts an identification tag, andwherein the container comprises a label with a removable identificationtag that is compatible with the slot in the handle; and the like.

In certain embodiments of the disclosure, particularly for containersfor sterile liquids, the container may include flat surfaces on thefront, rear, bottom, left and right sides, and a top providing an angledopening, such that the opening is visible and accessible when thecontainer is standing on the bottom surface, lying on the front surface,or lying on the front surface with another container stacked on top ofthe container and lying on the rear surface thereof. Another aspect ofthe disclosure includes a container wherein the opening is covered by acover, and wherein the top of the cover is accessible and viewable froma 45° angle above and in front of the container when the container isstanding on the bottom surface, lying on the front surface, or lying onthe front surface with another container of the same shape stacked ontop of the container and lying on the rear surface thereof.

The invention also includes containers having one or more surface which“interplay” with one or more other surface (e.g., one or more surface ofanother container, a shelf, a counter top, etc.) In many instances, theinterplay will be designed such that when the two surfaces are broughtinto close proximity or contact with each other, a container with one ofthe surfaces will exhibit an affinity for the item or items with theother surface. By “close proximity” is meant that two objects (e.g.,protrusions) are within 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.5, 0.7. 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, or5.0 millimeters of each other. While the interplay may be mediated byany number of means, the affinity may be, for example, physical (e.g.,adhesive, interlocking, etc.) or electrical (e.g., magnetic, etc.). Forexample, in certain embodiments, the disclosed containers may includefeatures which improve the stability or stacking stability ofcontainers. In some instances, these features may improve a user's gripin laboratory conditions (e.g., under the hood or when a container hascondensation or moisture on it), or provide ergonomic advantage. Incertain embodiments, the features may be one or more textured regions,one or more coatings, or one or more indentation or protrusion on thefront, rear, bottom, left, right sides, or top.

When indentations and/or protrusions are present, these features may bestructured and/or positioned in any numbers of ways. Further, the numberof indentations and/or protrusions, as well as other features ofsurfaces for interplay, may vary greatly. In particular, a surface of acontainer of the invention may contain one, two, three, four, five, six,seven, eight, nine, ten, twelve, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty,forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety, etc. (e.g., from about 10to about 100, from about 10 to about 20, from about 1 to about 4, fromabout 1 to about 6, from about 1 to about 10, from about 10 to about 30,from about 4 to about 10, from about 4 to about 15, from about 20 toabout 100, from about 20 to about 30, from about 20 to about 40, fromabout 30 to about 60, etc.) indentations and/or protrusions. Someexamples of indentations and protrusions are shown in FIGS. 29A-29C.

FIGS. 29A and 29B show protrusions 602 and 604 which, when present onopposing surfaces 601 and 603, will inhibit movement between thesurfaces. This is so because the “squares” are positioned such that theywill bump into each other if one surfaces moves in relation to the othersurface. Numerous variations of these features may be employed,including those which comprise other geometric patterns, hooks, etc.Further, these features may be structures to function in a twodimensional manner (as exemplified in part by the features shown inFIGS. 29A and 29B and FIG. 29C, explained below) or three dimensionallyas in the case of, for example hooks. Two dimensional interplay isadvantageous, for example, in instances where sliding of the surfaces issought to be prevented. In many instances, three dimensional interplaywill be advantageous when it is desired, for example, to lock thesurfaces together. This locking will often allow for the two surfaces tobe moved as a single unit. Thus, the invention includes compositions andmethods for locking two surfaces together and allowing for items (e.g.,containers, etc.) with locked surfaces to be moved simultaneouslywithout separating.

FIG. 29C shows indentations and protrusions 606 which when present onopposing surfaces 605 will contribute to stability of the surfaces withrespect to inhibiting motion between the surfaces. Typically, onesurface will contain indentations and the opposing surface will containcorresponding protrusions designed so that the protrusions settle intothe indentations. Indentations and protrusions such as these, as well asothers used in the practice of the invention, may be of any number, sizeand shape. Further, the total area of the surface on which they residemay vary greatly. As an example, the indentation and/or protrusionfeatures shown in FIG. 29C may take up less than 5% of the total area ofthe surface on which they reside. However, such features may take upmore than 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, or 95% (e.g.,from about 5% to about 20%, from about 10% to about 20%, from about 10%to about 30%, from about 10% to about 40%, from about 20% to about 50%,from about 50% to about 100%, etc.) of the surface on which they reside.

The indentations or protrusions may include, but are not limited to,complementary or interlocking surfaces (i.e., one or more indentation ona container to correspond with one or more protrusion on anothercontainer); one or more protrusion or “feet” on one or more sides of acontainer; a protruding rim along one or more outer edge of one or moresides of a container; indentations or protrusions to allow an area forattachment of anti-slip tabs or “feet” by a user; or one or moreindentation or protrusion to create one or more textured region. Theindentation(s), coating(s), or protrusion(s) may be printed, painted,sprayed, dyed, screened, or glued onto the surface of a container itselfor embossed, extruded, mixed, or molded into a container, but are not solimited. For example, the material of the indentation(s) orprotrusion(s) may be of the same material as a container or may comprisematerials including, but not limited to plastics, silicone, epoxies,glues, foams, cork, rubbers, neoprene, or polymers. In addition to beingembossed, extruded, mixed, or molded into a container or applied to acontainer by the manufacturer or supplier, the protrusion(s) orcoating(s) may be supplied along with a container or as a separate itemin the form of one or more glues, stickers, or tabs (such as hook andloop fasteners, rubber “feet,” silicone “feet,” cork tabs, or foamtabs), which may comprise materials including, but not limited toplastics, silicone, epoxies, glues, foams, cork, rubbers, neoprene, orpolymers, for attachment by someone other than the manufacturer.

In certain embodiments the disclosed systems can include a package, suchas a package for commercial sale, for example, wherein the packagecontains liquid cell culture media or sera. Such packages can include acontainer containing the liquid cell culture media or sera; thecontainer can include a top, wherein the top can include an opening foraccess to the interior of the container, and wherein the opening can bedisposed at an acute angle with respect to the front end. The acuteangle may be from 10° to 80°, from 20° to 70°, from 20° to 60°, from 30°to 60°, from 40° to 50°, and in certain embodiments, approximately a 45°angle. The disclosed package may further comprise a cover, optionallyconfigured to provide a sterile seal of the container, wherein the covermay be reversibly turned from a sealed configuration to an openconfiguration by a rotational movement of less than 360° (e.g., betweenfrom about 30° to about 360°, between from about 75° to about 360°between from about 90° to about 360° between from about 30° to about270° between from about 90° to about 270°, between from about 30° toabout 180°, between from about 90° to about 180°, etc.), less than 180°or even of approximately 90°. In certain embodiments, the container andcover alone or in combination provide a visual indication of the open orclosed state of the cover. The disclosed containers may further includea labeling system wherein the cover includes a coded visual indicator ofthe contents of the container including a color and a code or indicator;and a label on the container in which the indicator and color arerepeated, and in which the color and indicator are indicative of thecontents of the container, and further can be indicative of a particularproduct.

The present disclosure also provides in part, a package for liquid cellculture media or sera including a container containing the liquid cellculture media or sera, the container including a cover, configured toprovide a sterile seal of the container; a labeling system wherein thecover includes a coded visual indicator of the contents of the containerincluding a color and a code or indicator; and a label on the containerin which the code or indicator and color are repeated, and in which thecolor and code or indicator are indicative of the contents of thecontainer.

As stated above, any of a number of solid or liquid products may beincluded as part of the present system and methods, and in certainembodiments the disclosed packages contain animal serum, or morespecifically a package may contain bovine serum, heat inactivated bovineserum, donor bovine serum, donor bovine serum with iron, fetal bovineserum, US certified fetal bovine serum, US certified heat inactivatedfetal bovine serum, dialyzed fetal bovine serum, ES cell qualified fetalbovine serum, Australia qualified fetal bovine serum, Canada qualifiedfetal bovine serum, New Zealand qualified fetal bovine serum, USqualified fetal bovine serum, non-US qualified fetal bovine serum,Australia qualified heat inactivated fetal bovine serum, Canadaqualified heat inactivated fetal bovine serum, New Zealand qualifiedheat inactivated fetal bovine serum, US qualified heat inactivated fetalbovine serum, non-US qualified heat inactivated fetal bovine serum,ultra-low Ig fetal bovine serum, horse serum, heat inactivated horseserum, newborn bovine calf serum, heat inactivated newborn bovine calfserum, chicken serum, goat serum, lamb serum, porcine serum, rabbitserum, or other types of standard or custom serum known and used in theart.

In certain embodiments a package as disclosed may contain cell culturemedia, or it may contain base medium eagle (BME), BGJb medium,Brinster's BMOC-3 Medium, CMRL Medium, CO₂-Independent Medium,Cryopreservation Medium, Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Media (D-MEM), F-10Nutrient Mixtures, F-12 Nutrient Mixtures, Glasgow Minimum EssentialMedia, Grace's Insect Cell Culture Media, Improved MEM Zn++ Option(Richter's Modification), IPL-41 Insect Media, Iscove's ModifiedDulbecco's Media, Leibovitz's L-15 Media, McCoy's 5A Media (modified),MCDB 131 Medium, Media 199, Medium NCTC-109, Minimum Essential Media(MEM), Modified Eagle Medium (MEM), Opti-MEM® Reduced Serum Media, RPMIMedia 1640, Schneider's Drosophila Medium, Waymouth's MB 752/1 Media,Williams Media E, media formulated for amniotic fluid cells, mediaformulated for chorionic villus samples, media formulated for peripheralblood lymphocytes, media formulated for bone marrow cells or other typesof standard or custom media known and used in the art.

In certain embodiments the disclosure is directed to packages orcontainers for and/or containing solid products. Such solid products maybe powder or crystalline products for example, and may include drypowders, such as dry cell culture media products, or they may comprise adry form of cell culture media in a granular format.

The present disclosure may be described therefore, in certainembodiments as a package for liquid products, such as products for usein the biological sciences and in certain embodiments, products such ascell culture media or sera. One exemplary embodiment of the disclosureincludes a container that includes sides, such as a left side and aright side that are substantially planar and are disposed essentiallyparallel to each other; a front end surface and a rear end surface,wherein the two end surfaces are substantially planar and are disposedessentially parallel to each other; a planar bottom, adjoining andessentially perpendicular to the two sides and the two ends; a top,wherein the top includes an opening for access to the interior of thecontainer, and wherein the opening is disposed at approximately a 45°angle with respect to the front end; and a cover, configured to providea sterile seal of the container, wherein the cover may be reversiblyturned from a sealed configuration to an open configuration by arotational movement of less than 360°, less than 180° or even ofapproximately 90° and wherein the container and cover provide a visualindication of the open or closed state of the cover; a labeling systemwherein the cover includes a coded visual indicator of the contents ofthe container where the coded indicator includes a color and a number;and a label on the container in which the number and color from thecover are repeated, and in which the color and number are indicative ofthe original contents of the container.

The disclosure may also be described in certain aspects as a method formarketing of solid or liquid material products, the method includingproviding to customers or potential customers information regarding theproducts wherein the products are listed in categories; and providingthe products in containers, wherein each container includes a color codeassociated with a family of products and/or a number, code or othershort identifier associated with a product within that family, whereineach individual product can be identified by a color followed by a oneto three character designation in certain embodiments; and furtherwherein the color code and number or indicator may be prominentlydisplayed on some or all of the containers for ease of identification bya user. In certain embodiments, a product group or family may beidentified by a short identification code such as a number, letter,alphanumeric code or such a code that contains other characters, andmembers of the product family or group may be identified by individualcolors.

In certain embodiments the disclosure may include methods for improvingefficiency in a laboratory setting in which sterile materials includingsterile liquids are transferred into and out of containers whilemaintaining the sterility of the transferred materials and of thematerials remaining in the containers. These methods include providingsterile materials in containers that provide openings and covers toprovide access and to seal the opening. Disclosed methods can includeany of the following: providing openings in the containers that areoriented at an ergonomically advantageous angle for insertion of apipette device. By ergonomically advantageous angle, Applicants intendthe terms to have their standard meanings as used in the art, and thephrase is meant to convey that the containers provide an opening thatallows for increased ease of use or efficiency of movement of a useraccessing the container opening, such that the user can use fewermovements or movements over a decreased distance, or movements that aremore comfortable and require less energy, or any combination of thesewhen accessing the opening and withdrawing or adding contents from or tothe container.

Another aspect of methods of increasing efficiency can be providing acover that is openable with one hand, providing a cover that moves froman open to a closed position with a rotational movement of less than360°, providing a cover that includes a visual indication that the coveris in the open or closed position, or any combination of these.

An additional aspect of methods of increasing efficiency can beproviding optional protrusions or indentations that allow for increasedstability of containers when stacked. The increased stability increasesstorage efficiency through encouraging stacking of containers in storageand in laboratory settings such as under the hood. Container stabilityalso decreases the likelihood of spilling contents and increasesefficient movements in laboratory settings such as repeated pipettingwhere containers are less likely to shift or slide. Thus, the inventionfurther includes methods for decreasing spills and other errors. In someinstances, these methods include those where such errors are decreasedby at least 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 75%, 100%, 120%,150%, etc. (e.g., from about 2% to about 20%, from about 5% to about20%, from about 10% to about 20%, from about 2% to about 30%, from about5% to about 30%, from about 30% to about 100%, from about 40% to about150%, from about 50% to about 200%, etc.).

Yet another aspect of methods of increasing efficiency is providing oneor more labels on a container that includes a prominent color code thatidentifies the type of product in the container and/or a one to threecharacter designator in prominent type and optionally in the color ofthe color code. The aspect of the label that contains the color codeand/or identifier may be on the container, on the cover, or both. Thecombination of the color and/or identifier is sufficient to identify theindividual product within the product type so the product is easilyidentified. The efficiency may be further increased by providing amatching label on the cover that prominently displays the color codeand/or the colored numerals or other identifier that match those on thecontainer label.

In certain embodiments, the present disclosure is directed to methods ofincreasing efficiency by providing improved methods and components formaterial transfer, including transfer of liquid materials, and/orsterile liquids. An example of such an embodiment is shown in FIGS. 24Aand 24B. Shown in FIGS. 24A&B is a container similar to containers shownin FIGS. 8-10. In the container shown, the cap has been removed andreplaced with a dispenser or dispenser cap. A dispenser cap may bedesigned to be inserted into, or mate with any of the various openingsof the containers or bottles disclosed herein. The dispenser may furtherbe designed to contain a specific volume of liquid, and it may includegraduated volume markings on one or more sides to aid in filling thedispenser to a desired volume, or to dispense a desired volume from thedispenser. In certain embodiments a dispenser is provided in a sterilepackage, such as a sterile plastic bag that may be opened just prior touse. In certain embodiments, a dispenser may be disposable and designedfor a single use, or a dispenser may be autoclavable for multiplesterile uses.

In use, as shown in FIG. 24B, a desired amount of the contents of abottle are transferred from the bottle into the dispenser. Transfer ofthe liquid may be active, by providing a bottle with flexible sides sothat liquid can be squeezed into the dispenser, or liquid may betransferred from the container into the dispenser by gravity flow. Incertain embodiments, a bottle or dispenser includes a trigger mechanism,such that a user activates a trigger in order to induce flow of liquidinto the dispenser, and releases the trigger to stop the flow. Incertain embodiments, the dispenser includes a valve, or a one-way valveeffective to prevent backflow of liquid from the dispenser into thebottle, and to prevent additional flow of liquid from the container intothe dispenser after the desired level is reached.

The bottle with attached dispenser may then be used to dispense adesired, measured amount of liquid media or other product. In certainembodiments, the dispenser may be used for a repeated process such thata desired amount of liquid can be dispensed multiple times as in feedingliquid media to a plurality of cultures. A dispenser may thus replacethe need for pipetting in certain embodiments.

Examples of certain embodiments of dispensers are shown in FIGS. 25A and25B. The embodiments shown include a work station or media station thatmay be used in conjunction with a dispenser as described herein. A mediastation as shown may include one or more bottle holders and a platformfor tissue culture plates, for example, or other receptacles. In certainembodiments a user aligns a culture plate under a selected bottle, fillsa dispenser attached to the bottle with a selected amount of fluid andthen dispenses the fluid into a well in a culture plate. A station maycontain an alignment device to align a cell culture plate or otherreceptacle under one or more bottle holders for dispensing a pluralityof liquids. In certain embodiments, plates may be placed under a bottlemanually, or either the bottle holders or the platform may move relativeto each other to align a series of plates under one or more bottles fordispensing of one or more liquids to multiple cultures.

Increases in efficiency as disclosed herein can be determined by anyform of measurement known in the art. Such measures include, but are notlimited to a measure of error rate in ordering supplies, or a measure oferror rate in adding supplies to a cell culture or other process.Increases in efficiency may also include numbers of cultures or otherprocesses that are accomplished, or the amount of completed projects orexperiments produced by a particular worker or by a group of workers, orany other indications of productivity within a particular setting.

Increase in efficiency can also be measured by survey of arepresentative group of workers within a particular setting. In certainembodiments the present disclosure includes, methods of increasingefficiency of laboratory workers, or laboratory output to levels between1% and 10%, 1% and 20%, 1% and 30%, 1% and 40%, 1% and 60%, 1% and 80%,1% and 100%, 10% and 20%, 10% and 40%, 10% and 50%, 10% and 70%, 10% and85%, 10% and 100%, 30% and 60%, 30% and 80%, 30% and 100%, 40% and 60%,40% and 80%, 40% and 100%, 50% and 70%, 50% and 90%, 50% and 100%, etc.

The disclosure may also be described in certain aspects as an improvedmethod of providing products for use in a biological laboratory. Incertain embodiments the method includes providing to users a descriptionof products and services, either an electronic or paper and ink catalogof solid or liquid material products, for example, wherein the productsare provided to users in storage containers or packages. In certainembodiments, containers include a color code associated with a family ofproducts and an indicator as described herein associated with a productwithin that family, wherein each product can be identified by a colorfollowed by an indicator. The color code and indicator can beprominently displayed on each container for ease of identification by auser. In practice, the improved method may include maintaining anelectronic catalog on a computer system that is accessible by customersand in which at least some products are identifiable and searchable bythe color code and numbers or other indicator.

As such, a customer may access the electronic catalog over an internetconnection, for example, and search for a product by entering a colorand number or indicator that appears on the label of a container thatthe customer is ordering. In certain embodiments a company or suppliermaintains a web page in a web server. The opening or home web page caninclude information and/or links to information such as general companyinformation, products, services, investor information, etc. and also cancontain a link to one or more catalogs of products. In certainembodiments a catalog is accessible by any member of the public who hasa computer connection to the internet. The host web page may alsoprovide type boxes to allow a user to enter a user account name andpassword. Entry of an approved account name and password would link theapproved user to a secure area of the server where ordering informationcan be entered.

In the secure area, a user can access account information such aspurchase history, special pricing, or various subaccount information,etc. The user may also access one or more product or servicedescriptions such as catalogs, that can be searchable. A space can beprovided for user input of search terms or an indicator for a product tobe ordered. For example, a user may enter “Blue 29” if that color andnumber are an indicator for a desired product. The order for the productassociated with Blue 29 would then be stored in a temporary memory,often referred to as a “shopping cart” while further orders are entered.A customer may also browse the product descriptions by keyword, or byproduct family. For example, a user may enter the term “Blue” into asearch engine and would receive a page with all products in the familydesignated as “Blue.” Each product listing can include productdescription, volume, and price, and would provide a tickbox for orderinga particular product, or a box for entering a number of pieces of thatproduct to be added to the shopping cart.

Upon completion of the order, the user can be directed to checkout wherebilling information is entered or confirmed, including shipping address,purchase order number, or other information to complete the order. Thewebsite provides a button to submit the order that is selected andconfirmed by the user. The order is then electronically forwarded to adatabase that is accessible by the shipping and billing departments forcompletion. One or more departments can also be notified by email orother means that an order has been received. The ordered materials arethen pulled from inventory, packaged and shipped to the user, eitherwith an invoice included in the package, or an invoice can be sent byseparate cover. The described system is exemplary only, and thedisclosed embodiments are not limited to electronic ordering. Theordering process can also be accomplished by telephone to an orderdepartment in which the customers relay the color code and identifier toa customer service representative who then relays the order within thesupplier organization, or the customer may submit an order by mail orfacsimile. Orders may also be made over a telephone line or wirelessconnection such as a satellite connection, or wireless telephoneconnection in which a user can exchange visual or text information witha company representative or a company computer.

In certain embodiments the present disclosure can include a system foronline marketing of solid or liquid reagents or products to a pluralityof users. The disclosed system can include a server computer configuredto provide the electronic interface with users' computers. Suchcomputers optionally include a central processing unit, software storagemedia and software effective to provide a user-interactive graphicaluser interface (GUI). It is understood that the server computer may be asingle computer or a network of one or more computers that serve variousfunctions. The computer also may include an electronic connection to asource of pricing information for various items offered for sale tousers. This connection may be over a telephone line, a wirelesssatellite receiver, through an internet or intranet connection or by anyother means known in the art. The computer also optionally includes astorage medium for storing a user preference database, a firewall tolimit access to certain areas of the server to only authorized users,and an electronic connection to a network accessible to user computers.

In certain embodiments, the server is a web server and the users connectto the server through the world wide web, or internet, includingwireless connections. It is also understood that other networkconnections may also be used including those known in the art and thoseto be developed. As such, the user's computer may be a desk top orportable computer, such as a laptop computer, a personal digitalassistant, a telephone device or any other device that allows the userto interactively connect to the electronic interface.

An example of a computerized system is shown in diagram form in FIG. 21.The system includes a server computer 400 connected to a databasestorage medium 420. The server also includes a firewall 430 to preventaccess by unauthorized users. The server is connected to a network 440to which a plurality of user computers 450 may connect.

As used herein, a catalog is an ordered list of items, often with adescription of each or of some items, that may be a printed paperlisting or an electronic listing stored on a disc or other electronicmedia and accessed by computer, either locally or remotely. The items ina catalog are often grouped by family or subject matter, and each itemis often associated with an individual product number or alphanumericdesignation so that the catalog number identifies a specific item fromthe catalog and can be used to order that specific item. Some catalogs,such as those for suppliers of chemical and biological products have alarge number of items, and catalog numbers may include 6-8 digits oreven more and might include alphabetic designation, dashes, and otherindicators. Such numbers are difficult to remember, are often displayedon a product in small type that may be difficult to read, and alsoincrease the likelihood that an error may occur in using such a numberto order or re-order product from a catalog.

As used herein, the term “prominent” as applied to prominent displays ofinformation or color code is meant to indicate that the prominentdisplay is in high contrast with the background, that it is conspicuous,pronounced, or noticeable, and that in the case of type, that the sizeof the type or the color would be readable and the color recognizablefrom a distance of three feet or more by a person with normal vision.

Throughout this disclosure, unless the context dictates otherwise, theword “comprise” or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising,” isunderstood to mean “includes, but is not limited to” such that otherelements that are not explicitly mentioned may also be included.Further, unless the context dictates otherwise, use of the term “a” or“the” may mean a singular object or element, or it may mean a plurality,or one or more of such objects or elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following drawings form part of the present specification and areincluded to further demonstrate certain aspects of the presentdisclosure. The disclosure may be better understood by reference to oneor more of these drawings in combination with the detailed descriptionof specific embodiments presented herein.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art rounded bottle.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a prior art rectangular bottle.

FIG. 3A is a perspective view of a slide top container with the topopen.

FIG. 3B is a perspective view of a slide top container with the top openin a different orientation.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a flexible top container.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a wedge shaped container.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a box shaped container.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a two chambered container.

FIG. 8 is a front perspective view of a stackable rectangular container.

FIG. 9 is a rear perspective view of the container of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a stack of containers as shown in FIG.8.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a book shaped container.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a cone shaped container.

FIG. 13A is a perspective view of a hard container with a soft,collapsible inner container.

FIG. 13B is a perspective view of the cover of the container of FIG.13A.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a wide mouth container.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a flat container.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a toggle container.

FIG. 17 is a front perspective view of a flip top container.

FIG. 18 is a rear perspective view of a flip top container.

FIG. 19 is a flow diagram of a business system.

FIG. 20 is a flow diagram of a method for providing products asdisclosed herein.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram of system for marketing products as disclosedherein.

FIG. 22 shows various embodiments of labels as disclosed.

FIG. 23 is a more detailed view of labels as shown in FIG. 22.

FIG. 24A is a perspective view of a bottle and attached dispenser.

FIG. 24B is a perspective view of the container of FIG. 24A in use.

FIG. 25A is a perspective view of an embodiment of a dispensing station.

FIG. 25B is a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 25A in use.

FIGS. 26A, 26B and 26C are various types of side panels (e.g., left andright side panels) which may be employed to form containers of theinvention, such as a container as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

FIGS. 27A and 27B show two views (i.e., a frontal view and a side view,respectively) of an angled, upper panel of a container of the inventionwith an opening 508. One example of a container that could contain sucha panel is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 (e.g., the panel with cover 302 inFIG. 8).

FIG. 28 shows an exemplary label of the invention.

FIGS. 29A, 29B, and 29C show various aspects of features which allow forinterplay between surfaces. FIGS. 29A and 29B show front views of raisedfeatures which, when on surfaces which are brought together, inhibitmotion between the surfaces.

FIG. 30 shows an exemplary collar of the invention.

FIGS. 31A, 31B, and 33C shows an exemplary embodiment of a sleeve of theinvention which is designed to wrap around a bottle or other container,as well as a bottle around which the sleeve has been wrapped around.

FIGS. 32A, 32B, 32C, 32D, 32E, and 32F show six views (i.e., angled top,angled underside, cutaway side, detailed cutaway side, top, and side,respectively) of an exemplary cover of the invention.

FIGS. 33A, 33B, and 33C show three views (i.e., two side and one bottom,respectively) of an exemplary container of the invention. 1029 indicatesthe location of a recycle symbol on the container.

FIGS. 34A, 34B, 34C, 34D, and 34E show five views (i.e., side, side,frontal, top, and bottom) of an exemplary container of the invention.1023 indicates volume graduation markings on both front right and leftsides of the container. 1031 indicates the parting line of thecontainer.

FIGS. 35A, 35B, 35C, 35D, and 35E show five views (i.e., two side, onefrontal, one top, and one bottom) of an exemplary container of theinvention.

FIG. 36 shows an exemplary embodiment of a sleeve which is designed tobe placed over a container from the top (i.e., when the container ispositioned such the opening in pointed upwards).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure is directed, in part, to compositions and methodsrelated to labels and/or containers. In one aspect, the inventionincludes labels (e.g., labels for containers). These labels may bedesigned, for example, with one or more of the following features: (a)one or more rapidly identifiable visual cue which distinguishes thelabel from other labels; (b) one or more color code and/or one or moredesignation (e.g., a symbol, a number, a letter, etc.) or collection ofdesignations which allow for identification of the label; (c) one ormore spaces (e.g., spaces which alone or collectively take up greaterthan 25%, 35%, 45%, 55%, 65%, 75%, 80%, etc. of the total label) whichare suitable for marking using, for example, a writing implement such asa magic marker (e.g., a felt tipped marker, etc.), a pen, a pencil,etc.; (d) one or more adhesive coated side which may be used, forexample, to attach the label to a container or other item; (e) composedin a manner and/or of materials which allow the label to be durableunder usage conditions (e.g., may be autoclaved, is resistant to organicsolvent such as benzene and alcohols, like methanol and ethanol,isopropanol, etc.); (f) contains a feature which allows for visualidentification of the history of the label (e.g., contains an indicatorthat changes when the label has been autoclaved); (g) suitable forapplication to flat surfaces; (h) suitable for application to a roundedand/or curved surface; and (i) allows for “brand recognition” (e.g.,contains trademark such as “Invitrogen”, “GIBCO”, etc.). Thus, theinvention includes labels, containers which contain labels, and methodsemploying such labels and containers. Additional features of labels ofthe invention and methods employing such labels are set out elsewhereherein.

The disclosure further includes containers (e.g., containers designed tocontain reagents). These containers may be designed, for example, withone or more of the following features: (a) a shape which allows for thecontainer to be stored in a variety of positions without the contentseither (i) spilling or falling out of an orifice (e.g., an opening foradding and removing container contents) or (ii) contacting a cover onthe orifice of (i) (e.g., a “cap,” “cover” or a “lid”), when and if thecover is present; (b) a shape which allows for container to be storedwith other containers in a manner which allows for efficient usage ofspace (e.g., a shape which allows for stacking and/or placement ofmultiple containers with little or no space between them); (c) a label(e.g., a label of the invention as described elsewhere herein); (d) anorifice; and (e) a cover (e.g., a cap or a lid) over orifice. Specificaspects of the disclosure are shown in FIGS. 8-10. Thus, as noted above,the disclosure includes containers (e.g., containers with labels), andmethods employing such containers. Additional features of containers andmethods employing labels are set out elsewhere herein.

The disclosure also relates, in part, to systems and methods forimproving laboratory efficiency, and systems and methods for marketingand supplying liquid or other materials such as cell growth media andsera to the microbiological and cellular biology industries and researchfacilities. In certain embodiments the disclosure includes systems forstorage, transport, marketing, use and ordering of solid or liquidreagents and products that include, but are not limited to improvedcontainers or bottles that may include instantly readable andrecognizable labels and covers designed to increase efficiency throughease of identification, ease and adaptability of storage, ease ofreordering, and greater bottle stability. In certain embodiments thedisclosed systems are designed to decrease error rates and contaminationthrough ease of identification and the concomitant decrease in handlingof sterile bottles and generally to facilitate identification of thecontents of the bottles. In certain embodiments the systems employ aseries of improved bottles and labeling of the bottles and covers thatprovide an instant recognition of the contents of the bottle and theinformation necessary to identify the contents and to order, reorder orre-supply when necessary.

The Labels

One aspect of the disclosure is embodied in labels disclosed herein. Thelabels may be designed to increase efficiency and/or decrease errorrates by simplifying the reordering process and enhancing productrecognition. Labels can contain several different types of informativefeatures, and these features can be arranged on the labels in a varietyof ways. In certain embodiments, the user is able to quickly and easilyidentify the contents of a bottle by looking at the label, addpersonalized notations to the bottle or cover, reorder products usingproduct information encoded on the labels, and/or read critical productinformation from the label. Color coding of the labels allows, forexample, identification of the contents of the bottle without requiringthe user to handle the bottle. Similarly, product number or otherdesignation for reordering and critical product information may bereadily ascertainable from the label at arm's length for a person withnormal vision. Some examples of labels and features described herein areshown in the drawings of the containers in FIGS. 3-18.

Labels may be partially or completely printed on a separate media andattached or affixed to the bottles and or covers by adhesives or othermeans, or they may be painted, printed or dyed directly on the containerand/or cover or the container may be produced with a portion of thelabel embossed on the surface, or included in the material of thecontainer. It is a further aspect of the disclosure that labels for thecontainers and for the covers may be provided independently of thecontainers and may be affixed to containers by a user, or usedindependently of the containers. Labels may also be provided inconjunction with labeled containers and covers. For example, smalllabels containing various information may be attached to a package orpacked with a container to use to designate storage space to aparticular type of product or to stick in a catalog or lab notebook as areminder of the color and number code for a particular product.

Various embodiments of labels that may be used within the systeminclude, but are not limited to: embodiments in which two label sectionsof an opaque, translucent, or transparent material, or any combinationthereof are used, one section for the front of the bottle and onesection for the back of the bottle, leaving the bottom, top, and someportion of the sides of the bottle uncovered; embodiments having onecontinuous section of an opaque, translucent, or transparent material,or any combination thereof, that wraps around the entire circumferenceof a bottle, leaving some portion of the bottle above, and/or below thelabel uncovered; embodiments having one continuous section of an opaque,translucent, or transparent material, or any combination thereof, thatwraps around the entire bottle leaving only some portion of the bottomand the cover and bottle interaction region uncovered; embodimentshaving one continuous section of an opaque, translucent, or transparentmaterial, or any combination thereof, which wraps around the entirebottle and leaves only the cover and bottle interaction regionuncovered; embodiments in which the entire bottle and cover are coveredwith perforation between the bottle and cover to allow opening of thebottle without substantially altering or removing the label; andembodiments having one or more sections on the bottle of an opaque,translucent, or transparent material, or any combination thereof, withuncovered regions for content viewing in any orientation.

Any of the described embodiments of label may additionally include oneither the front or the back of the bottle or both, any, all, or none ofthe following features: one or more color coded regions that match thecolor coding of the cover, cap or lid; printed information appearinghorizontally or vertically, or in combination, on the label; a visibleproduct identifier, that may use any combination of letters, numbers,symbols, and pictures, that indicates the contents of the bottle, suchas a one to three digit (e.g., one to eight, one to five, two, to ten,etc.) number or alphanumeric characters in the color coded color; alarge multi-layered, detachable and transferable, or permanentlyaffixed, blank color coded section that matches the color coding of thecover, used for annotating and personalizing the bottle and facilitatinginformation transfer to other bottles if detachable, which may or maynot have one or more user information prompts printed on it, which mayinclude but are not limited to “Name”, “Date Opened”, and “Additions”; alarge multi-layered, detachable and transferable, or permanentlyaffixed, partially or wholly lined color coded section that co-ordinateswith the color coding of the cover, used for annotating andpersonalizing the bottle and facilitating information transfer to otherbottles, which may or may not have one or more user information promptsprinted on it, which may include but are not limited to “Name”, “DateOpened”, and “Additions”; a large multi-layered, detachable andtransferable, or permanently affixed, blank white or light coloredsection used for annotating and personalizing the bottle andfacilitating information transfer to other bottles if detachable, whichmay or may not have one or more user information prompts printed on it,which may include but are not limited to “Name”, “Date Opened”, and“Additions”; a large multi-layered, detachable and transferable, orpermanently affixed, partially or wholly lined white or light coloredsection used for annotating and personalizing the bottle andfacilitating information transfer to other bottles, which may or may nothave one or more user information prompts printed on it, which mayinclude but are not limited to “Name”, “Date Opened”, and “Additions”; aregion listing specific product details in a contrasting color withrespect to the region, which may include, but are not limited to,glucose content, protein content, various salt contents, buffer content,nutrient mixture, degree of filtration, lot number, catalog number, andcase reorder number; one or more regions which may contain the productidentifier, critical product information, which may include but is notlimited to temperature range, light sensitivity, expiration date, andvolume and may be expressed using letters, numbers, symbols, orpictures, and a descriptive product name displayed in a contrastingcolor with respect to the surrounding region; one or more color codedregions that match the color coding of the cover which may contain any,all, or none of the above features and information; a region listingspecific product details in a contrasting color with respect to theregion, which may include but are not limited to glucose content,protein content, various salt and buffer content, nutrient mixture,degree of filtration, lot number, catalog number, case reorder number;detailed product warnings; an expandable pocket 12 in which paper 14 maybe placed, see FIG. 3A; a scannable bar code; detachable sections 16with barcode, product reorder, and a lot-numbers printed on them, seeFIG. 4; removable, adhesive sections, which can be used as seals ortamper indicators, see FIG. 5; removable sections which revealadditional information underneath 20; fold out sections 16 containingadditional annotation space and specific product details, see FIG. 4;attached pull-up or removable identification, annotation, and indicatortags 32, see FIG. 6; removable identification and information transfersections 30, 40, 72, for example see FIGS. 5, 7, & 15; decorativeelements; and one or more trademarks, company names, or logos.

It is an aspect of the present disclosure that labels provide requiredinformation in an easily accessible format so that a symbol that is easyto recognize and to remember is used to identify a particular product.As such, in certain embodiments the label on a container contains anarea or stripe that is color coded. This area may be a stripe or areathat is clearly visible from the front, rear, either or both sides, orfront and rear and/or either or both sides of the container. The colorcoded area may also include a more major portion or all of a labelaffixed to one or more sides of a container, or it may be a shrink wrapthat covers all or part of the container or the cover. As such, a colorcoded area of a label may include up to 1%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% 50%,60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, or even 100% (e.g., from about 5% to about 100%,from about 10% to about 100%, from about 20% to about 100%, from about30% to about 100%, from about 40% to about 100%, from about 50% to about100%, from about 60% to about 100%, from about 70% to about 100%, fromabout 80% to about 100%, from about 5% to about 80%, from about 10% toabout 80%, from about 20% to about 80%, from about 30% to about 80%,from about 40% to about 80%, from about 50% to about 80%, from about 60%to about 80%, etc.) of one or more labels on one or more surfaces of acontainer. In particular embodiments labels also contain an identifierof either one digit, two digits, or three characters, of any combinationof letters, numbers or other characters to designate a particularproduct when used in conjunction with a color. The indicator isoptionally printed in the color coded region of a label or in anotherregion of the label, either white or in contrast to the coded color, inwhich the number or alphanumeric designator is printed in the codedcolor. Labels as described may be affixed to or printed on thecontainers or on the cover, (cap or lid, for example).

It is a further aspect of the present disclosure that the labels onvarious containers of the disclosure provide space for user annotationwithout obscuring the color code and product identifier. As such, one ormore labels of a container and/or a cover may provide blank space foruser annotation. A label that is affixed to one or more faces of acontainer may, therefore provide equal, greater than or up to 5%, 10%,20%, 30%, 40% 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, or even 100% (e.g., from about 5%to about 100%, from about 10% to about 100%, from about 20% to about100%, from about 300% to about 100%, from about 40% to about 100%, fromabout 50% to about 100%, from about 60% to about 100%, from about 70% toabout 100%, from about 80% to about 100%, from about 5% to about 80%,from about 10% to about 80%, from about 20% to about 80%, from about 30%to about 80%, from about 40% to about 80%, from about 50% to about 80%,from about 60% to about 80%, etc.) blank or unused space for useannotation. The blank space is optionally white, but may be of any colorthat provides contrast for writing added by a user. It is a furtheraspect that the top of the cover may also provide the color code andnumber to identify a particular product and may further provide blankspace for user annotation. As such, the covers can be composed of whitematerial, or any other color that provides contrast for writing added bya user, that is easily annotated by a SHARPIE® or other felt tippedmarker.

One exemplary label of the invention is shown in FIG. 28. This labelcontains a field 600 which contain the name of the reagent 601, and areagent designation 602. One or more or all of the ingredients of thecompound contained in a container labeled with this label may also bepresent in field 600 or one or more other fields shown in FIG. 28. Thereagent designation may be any combination of characters such asletters, numbers and/or symbols. Further, the reagent designation mayvary with an item's size. For example, “AA 00” may represent a 250milliliter D-MEM product and “AA 01” may represent a 500 milliliterD-MEM product.

Field 600 in FIG. 28 is of a color which corresponds to the product(e.g., the contents of the container). Other fields may also be of acolor which identifies the product and/or contents of the container.

Field 603 is space for marking on the label. This space will typicallybe of a color or visual density which allows markings (e.g., writteninformation made with a black marker) to be readily visualized. In manyinstances, field 603 will be white.

Field 605 in FIG. 28 may contain various information and/or symbolswhich indicate information such as boiling point, freezing point,storage conditions, vapor pressure, hazard information (e.g., tetragenicactivity), volatility, solubility, clean up or remediation conditions,photosensitivity, etc.

Field 604 may contain product codes such as catalog number or otherproduct identifier, lot number and/or a re-order designation.

Field 606 contains a bar code for rapid identification of the product.

The field locations, sizes and contents shown in FIG. 28 are merelyexemplary. Thus, the invention include labels, for example, in whichthese fields are located in different places on the labels.

Labels described herein, such as labels containing one or more featureshown in FIG. 28 may be used in various aspects of the invention.

Collars and Sleeves

A further aspect of the invention includes “collars” or “sleeves” whichmay be designed to attach to or around one or more of the following:cap, neck, shoulder, or body of a container, as well as containers whichcontain such collars and/or sleeves. In certain embodiments, thedisclosed systems can include (a) containers having one or more collarattached to, provided with, or offered separately from a container, (b)containers having one or more sleeve attached to, provided with, oroffered separately from a container; or (c) containers having one ormore collar and one or more sleeve attached to, provided with, oroffered separately from a container. The collars or sleeves may bedesigned, for example, with one or more of the following features: (a)one or more shape (e.g., open conical, open cylindrical, open pyramidal,etc.) that allows for ease of recognition, identification of contents,or attachment to or fitted attachment around a container; (b) sizes,colors, designs, layouts, or styles that allow for attachment to oraround a container (i.e., allowing for application from the top, side,and/or bottom), ease of recognition and identification of contents, orconveyance of information; (c) one or more adhesive side or area whichallows for reuse, removal, transferability and/or attachment tocontainers, lab notebooks, or storage areas; (d) one or more materials(including but not limited to plastics, corrugated plastic, cellulose,plasticized cards, foams, rubbers, latex, and laminated paper) whichallow for reuse, removal, transferability, attachment to or around acontainer, utility in or out of water, and/or utility at differentstorage temperatures (including but not limited to 37° C., 25° C., 4°C., −20° C., and −80° C.) (i.e., to insulate a user from temperatureextremes, such as removing a container from temperatures such as −20° C.or −80° C.), and/or replaceable writing surfaces (i.e., one or moretransparent area that allows for viewing writing below and one or moreopaque area allowing for user annotation); or (e) means of attaching toor around a container (including but not limited to plastic, glue,string, or wire).

Collars and sleeves are not limited to those which are readily appliedto containers described herein. As can be seen with respect to thecollar shown in FIG. 30, collars and sleeves of the invention may beapplied to any type of container, including containers used inbiological laboratories such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. Des.379,521, 4,534,483, 5,783,440, 5,924,583, 6,210,959, and 6,818,438, theentire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Collars and sleeves may be designed to serve practical applications suchas advertising (e.g., product promotion, etc.) or user utility. Examplesof user utilities include (a) provision of writing space, (b) marking ofcontainer contents with information such as safety data lotidentification and other information described herein.

Collars and sleeves may also be transparent, opaque, or have someregions which are transparent and other regions which are opaque. Insome instances, the positioning of transparent and opaque areas may besuch that, when the collar or sleeve is applied to a container, thetransparent area or areas will be located over information on a labeland the opaque area or areas will be located over one or both of anunlabelled area or areas or a labeled area or areas. Advantages of usinga sleeve on a container include (a) provision additional space forwriting and (b) replacing space for writing (e.g., covering spaces thathave been written on with unwritten space).

Collars or sleeves of the invention may be designed, for example, withone or more of the following features: (a) one or more rapidlyidentifiable visual cue which distinguishes the collar or sleeve fromother collars or sleeves; (b) one or more color code and/or one or moredesignation (e.g., a symbol, a number, a letter, etc.) or collection ofdesignations which allow for identification of the collar or sleeve; (c)one or more spaces (e.g., spaces which alone or collectively take upgreater than 25%, 35%, 45%, 55%, 65%, 75%, 80%, etc. of the total collaror sleeve) which are suitable for marking using, for example, a writingimplement such as a magic marker, a pen, a pencil, etc.; (d) one or moreadhesive coated side which may be used, for example, to attach thecollar or sleeve to a container or other item; (e) composed in a mannerand/or of materials which allow the collar or sleeve to be durable underusage conditions (e.g., may be autoclaved, is resistant to organicsolvent such as benzene and alcohols, like methanol and ethanol,isopropanol, etc.); (f) contains a feature which allows for visualidentification of the history of the collar or sleeve (e.g., contains anindicator that changes when the collar or sleeve had been autoclaved);(g) suitable for application to flat surfaces; (h) suitable forapplication to a rounded and/or curved surface; and (i) allows for“brand recognition” (e.g., contains trademark such as “Invitrogen”,“GIBCO”, etc.).

Collars and/or sleeves of the invention may be attached or applied to acontainer on or before sales of the container (e.g., may be attached bythe manufacturer) or may be offered separately for a user to attach tovarious containers, and may be attached in a temporary, semi-permanent,or permanent manner. In certain embodiments, one or more (e.g., one,two, three, four, five, etc.) collar or sleeve which may be attached ina temporary or semi-permanent manner may be offered separately, providedwith, or attached to a container as product packaging by the provider(e.g., to convey advertising, promotion material or other information tousers; allow for user personalization or annotation; allow for ease ofremoval or transferability of the information; or allow for ease ofreordering).

Collars and sleeves may be applied to containers in any number of ways.As examples, these items may be applied from the top, side or bottom.Further, collars and sleeves may be in their final shape beforeapplication or may form their final shape after application. As anexample of the later, a collar or sleeve may be designed to wrap arounda container. In a specific embodiment, a sleeve, for example, maycontain an adhesive area which, when wrapped a round a container,adheres to itself and/or the container.

Additionally, one or more collar or sleeve that may be attached in apermanent manner may be offered separately, provided with, or attachedto a container as product packaging by the provider (e.g., thedistributor or manufacturer). The provider may convey advertising orother information to users or provide blank or formatted areas for userpersonalization or annotation on the collars or sleeves. For example,the provider may incorporate one or more color in a collar or sleeve toaid in recognition of the contents of a container that is not in thefront row of a storage area or that is a distance of one, two, three,four, etc. feet away or more by a person with normal vision. Thevisibility, of course, will vary with a number of aspects such as thesize of the collar or sleeve, the color or colors of the collar orsleeve, the area of the collar or sleeve which contains the color orcolors, the amount of the collar or sleeve visible under the particularconditions, the amount of light present in the particular situation.

In many instances, containers of the invention will be viewed from thetop. Collars and/or sleeves may thus be designed so that they arevisible when the upper portion of the container is visible (e.g., atleast the top 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% can be seen). The invention thusincludes, in part, collars and sleeves which are designed to attach tothe upper portion of containers, as well as containers which have suchcollars and sleeves, method for applying such collars and sleeves tocontainers, and methods for providing containers which contain suchcollars and sleeves, as well as methods for providing the collars andsleeves themselves.

A portion of the collar or sleeve may contain a pre-formatted area(which may include, but is not limited to, “Name”, “Date Opened”, and“Additions”) or a blank or lined area to allow for user annotation.Additionally, all or a portion of the collar or sleeve (e.g., portionswhich alone or collectively take up greater than 25%, 35%, 45%, 55%,65%, 75%, 80%, etc. of the total collar or sleeve) may have adhesiveside(s) to allow use as a sticker in other situations, such astransferal to another container, transferal to a laboratory notebook, ordesignation of storage space. For example, one or more portion of thecollar or sleeve may be a transparent material that allows for viewingof writing underneath the collar or sleeve while other portions of thecollar or sleeve may be an opaque area that obscures writing underneathand allows for user annotation when necessary (e.g., simply whenadditional writing space is needed or when new writing space is neededdue to prior annotations being illegible, incorrect, or outdated).

An example of a collar of the invention is shown in FIG. 30. FIG. 30shows an embodiment of the invention with an opening 701 designed to fitover a round cap, an adhesive area 702 designed to adhere to a portionof the container upon which it is placed, and six removable tabs 703.The adhesive area 702 will typically be located on the back side of thecollar. Further, the front portion of this area 702 will often beavailable for writing on or may contain identifying information of thecollar and for the container to which it is applied.

Removable tabs, may be designed such that they will also adhere to otheritems to which they are applied (e.g., a laboratory notebook, etc.).Further, the removable tabs 703 may contain preprinted informationand/or may be suitable for writing upon. Of course, similar features maybe present in sleeves or labels of the invention. Also, featuresdescribed herein for collars, labels and sleeves may be used in each ofthese items as appropriate. In other words, as an example, a featuredescribed herein for a label may also be a feature of a sleeve.

An example of a sleeve of the invention is shown in FIGS. 31A-31C. InFIG. 31A, this embodiment of a sleeve 801 has been placed over a theupper portion of a bottle 802. The sleeve 801 has an area 803 which maybe used for entry of particular information by the user. Of course,other areas of the sleeve may also container such information (e.g., canbe written upon). Further, the sleeve may contain additional informationand may be color coded consistent with a particular product or categoryof particular products.

FIGS. 31B and 31C show the sleeve of FIG. 31A in open and closedcircular formats, respectively. In FIG. 31B, the sleeve 801 is shown ascontaining an adhesive area 804 designed to be affixed to area 805,thereby forming the closed, circular sleeve shown in FIG. 31C.

Another embodiment of a sleeve of the invention 1046 is shown in FIG.36. In this instance, the sleeve is designed to fit over a containersuch as that shown in FIG. 8. One of the sides of the sleeve 1043 whichcorresponds to one of the two upper angled panels of the container isleft mostly open. The open area 1042 is designed such that the sleevecan pass over the container with minimal steric hindrance from theopening. The “lip” of this side 1043 is designed to contact the panel ofthe container on which it sits. Sides 1044 and 1045, as well as othersurfaces may contain information pertaining to the containers contentsand/or may be available for writing upon. Also, one or more back areasof the sleeve 1046 may contain adhesive for affixing the sleeve tocontainers.

In many instances, sleeves of the invention will be designed such thatthey may pass over a bottle in which the cover has not been removed. Insome instances, it may be necessary to bend the sleeve to fit it overthe cover but, in most instances, the stress of fitting the sleeve overthe cover area will not be sufficient to tear the sleeve. Thus, in manyinstances, sleeves of the invention will be made of flexible materials.

The Bottles

A further aspect of the disclosure is shown in various embodiments ofcontainers or bottles disclosed herein. Some of these disclosedembodiments are designed to increase efficiency and/or decrease thelikelihood of spills and contamination. Specific embodiments includecontainers (e.g., bottles) that utilize shapes and/or overall designsthat promote accuracy and/or efficiency of movement for the user. Inmany instances, various embodiments described herein provide userfriendly labeling surfaces. This in turn may translate into greater userefficiency and/or fewer spills, thereby decreasing costs. The systemalso can utilize sealing mechanisms which offer one handed opening andclosing and minimal handling of the bottle, thereby decreasingcontamination and further increasing user efficiency. Depending on theparticular use, containers disclosed herein may be constructed ofmaterial tested to meet requirements of applicable state and/or federalregulations, such as those promulgated by the Food and DrugAdministration when required.

Various embodiments of container designs are described below. It isunderstood however, that these designs are exemplary only, and are notintended to describe the entire scope of any invention disclosed herein.FIGS. 3A & 3B are perspective views of a slide top container. The top 4of this container is a sliding mechanism that can be operated with onehand, or a thumb by a user. The sliding top has three possiblepositions. A first position, shown in FIG. 3A reveals a first opening 6into the container. This opening has a lip to channel liquid flow duringpouring of liquid out of the container. In a second position shown inFIG. 3B, the slide top is moved in the other direction to reveal a largecircular opening 8 that is more suitably shaped for drawing fluid out ofthe container as with a pipetting device. A third position, not shown,is the closed position in which the slide top is centered on the device,closing and sealing both openings.

The container shown in FIG. 4 is a flexible top container. The containeris molded of a deformable material in the neck area 10 so the openingcan be pointed toward a user for easier pipette access to theingredients. The label shown in this drawing has been discussed above.Because of the shape of the bottle, in certain embodiments of thiscontainer a label containing information that is needed onlyoccasionally is affixed to the bottom surface of the container. Thisembodiment also includes a non-removable cover 22. The cover 22 andsliver 24 are molding together and the cover is designed to snap closedon the bottle, again with one-handed operation.

Another embodiment of a container is shown in FIG. 5, and is describedherein as a wedge shaped container. This shape offers some advantage instorage, in that bottles may be stored side by side with more efficientuse of space than conventional round bottles. The wedge or triangularshape also is easier to handle or grip and allows for maximal labelexposure. The embodiment shown in the figure includes a clear cover 34over the cover that is removable so colored stickers 30 or otheridentifying information can be placed under the cover and protected. Thecontainer is FIG. 5 also includes an indicator strip 18 that aligns withthe projection on the cover 34 to indicate that the cover is in theclosed and sealed position. Also shown is a temperature indicator 36that can be added to any of the embodiments described herein.

The embodiment of a container shown in FIG. 6 is a box shaped or boxycontainer. This container is designed for efficient storage and includespull up tabs 32 that can be seen for containers that are not placed inthe front row. The cover as shown includes a projection 38 to facilitateone-handed opening and closing of the bottle, and can be aligned with amarker on the container to indicate whether the cover is in the open orclosed position. An embodiment of a container that includes two chambersis shown in FIG. 7. The bottle includes a lower chamber that holds theoriginal volume of liquid and an upper chamber 44 connected to the lowerchamber by a tube 46. When liquid is to be withdrawn, the lower chamberis squeezed, forcing a portion of the liquid up the tube and into theupper chamber where it can be contacted with a pipette withoutdisturbing the lower chamber. Individually removable labels 40 can beused to transfer information between bottles, or between the bottle anda lab notebook or elsewhere as needed, and can also be personalized andaffixed to the cover 48.

Another aspect of the disclosure is embodied in the container shown inFIG. 11. This container is book shaped and is designed again for easyone handed opening and closing and easy withdrawal of liquid. The top 50flips open with the thumb to reveal an easily accessible opening 52 thatis angled toward the front so a user does not have to reach above thecontainer to insert a pipette device. The shape also lends itself to alabel 54 that wraps around three sides of the container for abundantspace for user labeling and manufacturer coding of the contents, andleaves the front face transparent so the volume and color of thecontents is easily viewed.

A conical container is shown in FIG. 12. Although this container doesnot provide flat surfaces for user annotations, it is provided withrings 60 that fit over the container at various circumferences toprovide user labeling. The container is also provided with a matingconical cover 62. When delivered, the cover may be sealed with anadhesive strip (not shown) that contains a computer readable bar codethat is useful for re-ordering purposes.

A further container design is shown in FIGS. 13A & B. This embodimentincludes a harder outer cover 64 and a soft, collapsible inner bag 66that contains the liquid contents. The hard cover may be made ofcardboard or rigid plastic and may incorporate a label that wraps aroundthree sides of the container. The outer cover may also incorporate a tab68 for user annotation, and a removable marker 65 for personalization ofthe containers by users. The cover 63 is shown with a ridge tofacilitate turning of the cover and to indicate the open or closed stateof the cover. As shown in FIG. 13B, a colored strip 67, which may bepart of the color code as disclosed herein is disposed under the coverand is exposed when the cover is in the open position. In certainembodiments a removable strip 61 is provided to transfer informationfrom the bottle to other bottles, lab notebooks, etc. or to use forre-ordering. A wide mouthed container is shown in FIG. 14. This bottlehas an angled opening to facilitate pipetting and the bottle and coverinclude an indicator 71 to inform the user if the cover is open orclosed. As shown, the cover is opened or closed with only a quarter turnof the cover. The label as shown in the Figure includes the color codingand number information 73 prominently displayed from the rear so it iseasily identified by a user. The embodiment as shown may also include aweighted bottom to provide extra stability and a bottom that slopes tothe rear to facilitate removing all the liquid from the bottle withoutcausing contamination.

A flat container is shown in FIG. 15. This container is efficientlystacked and can provide color and number coded information from thefront by use of a color and number coded insert 72 under the cover 74.FIG. 16 shows a container embodiment which includes a toggle opening.The top 76 is easily opened with one hand by flipping up to reveal anangled opening (not shown). The top also provides an angled surface 78for color and number coding of the contents that is visible from thefront during storage in rows. In certain embodiments, the package isdelivered with the top covered with a shrinkwrap seal or a celon and astring 79 is provided to facilitate opening of the bottle. Anotheraspect of the disclosure is an oval shaped container with a slanted topas shown in FIGS. 17 & 18. This top again provides an angled frontsurface 80 for easy reading of labels during use and storage. The rearof the top includes a recess 82 to depress the flip top and reveal theangled pipette opening (not shown). This allows the user to open the topwithout having a hand near the opening, thus decreasing probability ofcontamination. A wrap-around label 84 provides ample space formanufacturer coding and user annotations.

Each of the embodiments described above may also contain any, all, ornone of the following features: a wide bottle opening to allow easypipette access; an external temperature indicator which passivelyreveals the temperature of the bottle, closure indicators that displaywith reference to the cover whether the cover is in the closed andsealed position or in the open and unsealed position, a color indicatoron the cover and bottle interaction region which is visible when thebottle is open but not when it is sealed, a cover and bottle interactionregion which permits removal of the cover with less than three hundredand sixty degrees of rotation; a thickened or otherwise weighted base toadd weight to prevent the bottle from toppling over during use orstorage; an angled bottom to facilitate the removal of all the contentsof a bottle; an angled bottle neck to facilitate smooth content accessand removal and a volume gradation on a portion of the bottle throughwhich the volume of liquid in the container can be determined orestimated. Any of the embodiments disclosed may also include a shrinkwrap around all or a portion of the container for tamper evidence andthat also may incorporate the color coding, or color and number codingas described herein.

The Covers

The covers disclosed herein maybe designed to be compatible with thevarious container embodiments, and in certain embodiments to maintainsterility while remaining easy to open, particularly with one hand. Thecovers can be of a variety of shapes and sizes and can be engineered toutilize any acceptable method of attaching to the bottle, such as snapclosure, threaded closure, stopper, slide closure, lever closure, or athreaded luer, that in certain embodiments, permits removal with lessthan 360 degrees of rotation. The covers may also be delivered with acelon, a protective wrapper that surrounds the bottle and coverinteraction region prior to first use, which indicates to the user thatthe bottle has not been opened. This celon can be made of any suitablematerial such as thin plastic, optionally with a pre-scored sectiondesigned to fail upon the application of only minimal pressure tofacilitate celon removal. The celon may have a string or other pullinstead of or in addition to a pre-scored section, the pulling of whichcuts the celon and eases removal. Additionally, some section of thecelon may be adhesive and once removed from the bottle, be capable ofreattachment by adhesion to be used as a label for the bottle. The celonmay also incorporate the color and number coding described herein.

The covers may vary to be compatible with various embodiments of thebottles, and may include, but are not limited to: a rounded white bottlecover, made of an opaque, translucent, or transparent material, or anycombination thereof, which may or may not have one or more (e.g., one,two, three, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, one to fifty, ten toseventy, twenty to eighty, twenty-five to forty, etc.) vertical ridgeson it to facilitate opening, that has either or both a colored regionand colored product identifier on the top; a rounded colored bottlecover, made of an opaque, translucent, or transparent material, or anycombination thereof, which may or may not have vertical ridges or othertextured areas on it, that may or may not have a product identifier onit; a mostly rounded bottle cover, made of an opaque, translucent, ortransparent material, or any combination thereof, which may or may nothave ridges on it, that has an indicator or flap on it that facilitatesone handed opening and indicates the status of the bottle as open orclosed based on the indicator's position; a hinged, dual angled cover,which has large surfaces for labeling, that does not expose the insideof the cover to contamination when opened; a bi-directional slide topcover with one or more openings for content access; and a see-saw type,toggle cover; or a flip-top cover. In certain embodiments, a cover asdisclosed herein can also include a safety feature to preventinadvertent opening of the cover, or for containers that includevolatile materials, a safety vent system can be employed.

An exemplary cover of the invention 1001 is shown in FIGS. 32A-32F. Thecover 1001, as shown, is designed to fit containers of FIGS. 33A-33E,34A-34E, and 35A-35E. The cover 1001 includes an area 1002 for affixinga color coded label as discussed above, ridges 1003 to provide increasedgrip or ergonomic advantage to the user, and threading 1004 that allowsfor easy opening of the bottle. FIG. 32C shows a cutaway side view ofthe cover 1001 where the width 1006 of the inner plug 1007 is 33.37 mm,and its angle 1008 from the cover sides 1009 is 60 degrees. Theeffective width 1010 of the inner plug 1007 is 38.87 mm. A more detailedview of the threading 1004 is shown in FIG. 32D. The base height of thecover before the first thread 1011 is 2 mm. The total width of thecover's first thread 1012 is 1.19 mm and the overall height of thecover's first thread 1013 is 2.386 mm, with the lower end of the threadangle 1014 at 45 degrees and the upper end of the thread angle 1015 at10 degrees. FIG. 32E illustrates opening and closing mechanisms asdiscussed herein. The overall height of the cover 1018 is 24.5 mm andthe overall width of the cover 1019 is 48.09 mm, as shown in FIG. 32F.

Each of the described cover embodiments may also contain any, all, ornone of the following features: a recessed top; a removable transparentor translucent cover that locks into place on the cover allowing colorcoding or personalization of the cover; a removable opaque marker thatlocks into place on the cover, which can be user annotated and used forinformation transfer, an indicator that displays the closed or openstatus of a bottle based on the alignment of some feature on the coverwith a part of the bottle, for example lining a groove in the cover witha grove in the bottle, or lining up a protrusion from the cover withindented or elevated circles on the bottle; a non-threaded flare thatextends beyond the cover and bottle interaction region and covers partof the top of the bottle that prevents the threaded section of the coverfrom making contact with non-sterile surfaces, add-on markers that lockonto the cover and allow users to mark or personalize bottles; a ridgeor protrusion on the cover with a hole in it to allow users to addadditional tags or to help manipulate the bottle, a leash made of anacceptable material that prevents the cover from being separated fromthe bottle, and a rigid leash that when opened prevents the cover frommaking contact with the sides of the bottle. Any of the covers disclosedmay also be composed of material that is colored to match the color codeof the product, or any of the covers may incorporate significant whiteor lightly colored space for user annotation.

An exemplary container of the invention is shown in FIGS. 33A-33C. Thebottle has a square footprint, essentially planar sides to facilitateeasier label affixation or annotation, a wide opening to facilitate easeof pipetting, and graduation marks 1023 to aid in quickly identifying anapproximate amount of material contained in the bottle. The overallheight of the bottle 1021 is 96.21 mm while the width and depth of thebottle 1022 is 51 mm. The height of the threaded area of the bottle 1020is 23 mm. The average wall thickness 1027 of this bottle is 0.86 mm. Theinner diameter of the opening 1026 is 36.6 mm, the outer diameter of theopening 1025 is 41.43 mm, and the outer diameter of the opening beforethe thread start 1024 is 43.81 mm. In the bottle as shown, the ratio ofthe depth 1022 to width 1022 to overall height 1021 is about 1:1:1.89.The depth:width:height ratio calculated here is based upon a totalcontainer height, including the height of the spout. The ratios of thelengths of sides (see, for examples, the description for FIGS. 26A-26Cand the A:B or A:C ratio) may also be used to define the container ofFIGS. 33A-33C, or other containers of the invention. In many instances,volume of containers such as those shown in FIGS. 33A-33C will be 10,15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 55, 65, 75, 100, 157, 173, 196, 200, 250, 350, 400,etc. (e.g., between about 10 and 400; between about 50 and 400; betweenabout 100 and 400; between about 10 and 300; between about 10 and 200;between about 50 and 300; between about 50 and 200; etc.)).

An additional exemplary container of the invention is shown in FIGS.34A-34E. As in Example 3, the bottle has a rectangular footprint, anangled opening, and rounded corners to aid in easy emptying of thebottle with a pipette; the other advantages discussed above areincorporated herein. Additionally, the bottle has graduation markings1023 on both right and left front sides of the bottle to aid in quicklyidentifying an approximate amount of material contained in the bottle.The drawings also show the parting line 1031 of the bottle as well as anarea 1032 for affixing a label. The parting line is formed when twosections, which are made separately, are brought together to form thecontainer. The average wall thickness 1030 of this bottle is 0.95 mm.The following dimensions of the bottle are to the theoretical sharpcorners past the rounded corners. The overall height of the container1033 is 145.3 mm and the overall depth of the container 1034 is 108.32mm, including the angled-entry opening. The effective depth of thecontainer 1035 (corresponding to side C of FIGS. 26A-26C) is 101 mm. Thewidth of the container 1036 (corresponding to the Z plane of FIG.26A-26C or I of FIG. 27A) is 72 mm. In the bottle as shown, the ratio ofthe depth 1035 to width 1036 to overall height 1033 is about1:1.40:2.02. In many instances, volume of containers such as those shownin FIGS. 34A-34E will be 200, 250, 350, 400, 447, 500, 554, 600, 650,776, 802, 900, 1,000, 1,250, etc. (e.g., between about 200 and 1,250;between about 300 and 1,250; between about 400 and 1,250; between about500 and 1,250; between about 600 and 1,250; between about 200 and 1,000;between about 200 and 800; etc.)).

Another exemplary container of the invention is shown in FIGS. 35A-35E.As in the exemplary container above, the bottle has a rectangularfootprint, an angled opening, and graduation markings 1023, theadvantages of which are incorporated herein. The average wall thickness1037 of this bottle is 0.94 mm. The following dimensions of the bottleare to the theoretical sharp corners past the rounded corners. Theoverall height of this container 1038 is 199.47 mm and the overall depthof the container 1039 is 132.599 mm, including the angled-entry opening.The effective depth of the container 1040 (corresponding to side C ofFIGS. 26A-26C) is 128.15 mm. The width of the container 1041(corresponding to the Z plane of FIG. 26A-26C or I of FIG. 27A) is 72mm. In the bottle as shown, the ratio of the depth 1040 to width 1041 tooverall height 1038 is about 1:1.78:2.77. In many instances, volume ofcontainers such as those shown in FIGS. 35A-35E will be 900, 1,000,1,250, 1,375, 1,454, 1,500, 1,700, 1,763, 1,800, 1,900, 2,000 etc.(e.g., between about 900 and 2,000; between about 1,000 and 2,000;between about 1,400 and 2,000; between about 1,500 and 2,000; betweenabout 900 and 1,500; between about 900 and 1,400; between about 1,200and 1,500; etc.)).

Wall thicknesses of containers of the invention will vary greatly basedupon many factors, including the materials the containers are made of,the contents (e.g., pressurized or non-pressurized contents), and thesize of the container. Some wall thickness will be 0.2 mm, 0.25 mm, 0.5mm, 0.75 mm, 0.85 mm, 0.95 mm, 1.0 mm, 1.1 mm, 1.2 mm, 1.5 mm, 2.0 mm,2.5 mm, etc. (e.g., between from about 0.2 mm and about 2.5 mm; betweenfrom about 0.5 mm and about 2.5 mm; between from about 0.5 mm and about2.0 mm; between from about 0.5 mm and about 1.5 mm; between from about0.5 mm and about 1.0 mm; etc.). By “wall thickness” will typically bemeant an average thickness with a variation equal to or less than 1%,2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, 9%, 10%, 11%, 12%, 13%, 14%, 15%, 16%, 17%,18%, 19%, or 20%. Inmost instances, wall thickness will be measured inflat areas and away for corners or curves. In some instances, wallthickness will be measured only near the central portion of flat sides.By central portion is meant the center 50% of a side. Thus, if a side is100 mm in height and 80 mm in width, measurements would be taken between25 mm from the bottom to 25 mm from the top and 20 mm from the left sideto 20 mm from the right side. In many instances, thickness measurementswill be taken at numerous (e.g., at least ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty,forty, fifty, etc.) locations to arrive at an average. Further, thesethickness measurements will often be spaced at least 0.2 mm, 0.4 mm, 0.5mm, 0.7 mm, 0.8 mm, 0.9, 1.0 mm, etc. apart from each other.

Business Methods

The present disclosure also provides systems and methods of providingcompany products to an acquirer of the products, for example, systemsand methods for providing a customer or a product distributor a productsuch as a reagent or culture media identified by a labeled containerand/or cover and/or contained within a bottle described herein. FIG. 19provides a schematic diagram of a product management system. Inpractice, the blocks in FIG. 19 can represent any organization which canbe one legal entity or a combination of entities that provides productsor systems as disclosed herein. This organization can includedepartments in a single building or in different buildings, a computerprogram or suite of programs maintained by one or more computers, agroup of employees or contractors, a computer I/O device such as aprinter or fax machine, a third party entity or company that isotherwise unaffiliated with the company, or the like.

The product management system as shown in FIG. 19 is exemplified byorganization 100, which receives input in the form of an order from aproduct or system acquirer, e.g., distributor 150 or customer 140 or thelike, to order department 126, or in the form of materials and parts 130from an acquirer; and provides output in the form of a product deliveredfrom shipping department 119 to distributor 150 or customer 140.Organization 100 system is organized to optimize receipt of orders anddelivery of products to a party outside of the company in a costefficient manner, particularly a reagent identified by a labeledcontainer and/or cover and/or contained within a container describedherein, and to obtain payment either directly or indirectly, for suchproduct.

With respect to methods of the present disclosure, the term “materialsand parts” refers to items that are used to make and package a productor other component that organization 100 sells to an acquirer. As such,materials and parts include, for example, culture media, buffers, paper,ink, reaction vessels, plastic, glass, filters, glucose, etc. Incomparison, the terms “other components” and “products” refer to itemssold or otherwise supplied by the organization. Other components areexemplified by labels, covers, bottles, collars, and sleeves. As such,it will be recognized that an item useful as materials and parts asdefined herein further can be considered an “other component”, which canbe provided by the organization. Thus, the term “products” refers tomaterials and parts as well as other components that are sold or desiredto be sold or otherwise provided by an organization to one or moreacquirers or users. Products exemplified herein include, but are notlimited to culture media such as cell culture media and sera packaged incolor coded labeled bottles, in which color coded packaging or labelingin combination with a simple, one, two, or three digit number oralphanumeric indicator is used to indicate the exact product from aplurality of available products.

Referring to FIG. 19, organization 100 includes manufacturing 110 andadministration 120. Products 112 and other components 116 are producedin manufacturing 110, and can be stored separately therein such as inproduct storage 117 and other component storage 115, respectively.Materials and parts 130 can be provided to organization 100 from anoutside source and/or materials and parts 114 can be prepared byorganization, and used to produce products 112 and other components 116,which, in turn, can be assembled and sold or otherwise supplied as aproduct. Manufacturing 110 also includes shipping department 119, which,upon receiving input as to an order, can obtain products to be shippedfrom product storage 117 and forward the product to a party outside thecompany.

For purposes of the disclosure, product storage 117 can store emptybottles and empty labeled bottles as well as labeled and covered bottlescontaining culture medium or other products. For example, upon receivinginput from order department 126 that a customer 140 has ordered a 500milliliter bottle of DMEM (low glucose) for example, shipping department119 can obtain from product storage 117 this product and ship theproduct to customer 140 (and providing input to billing department 124that the product was shipped).

As further exemplified in FIG. 19, administration 120 includes orderdepartment 126, which receives input in the form of an order for aproduct from customer 140 or distributor 150. Order department 126 thenprovides output in the form of instructions to shipping department 119to fill the order (i.e., to forward products as requested to customer140 or distributor 150). Shipping department 119, in addition to fillingthe order, further provides input to billing department 124 in the formof a confirmation that the products have been shipped. Billingdepartment 124 then can provide output in the form of a bill to customer140 or distributor 150 or other acquirer as appropriate, and can incertain embodiments further receive input that the bill has been paid,or, if no such input is received, can further provide output to customer140 or distributor 150 that such payment may be delinquent.

An additional optional component of organization 100 includes a customerservice department 122, which can receive input from customer 140 andcan provide output in the form of feedback or information to customer140. Furthermore, although not shown in FIG. 19, customer service 122can receive input or provide output to any other component oforganization. For example, customer service department 122 can receiveinput from customer 140 indicating that an ordered product was notreceived, wherein customer service department 122 can provide output toshipping department 119 and/or order department 126 and/or billingdepartment 124 regarding the missing product, thus providing a means toassure customer 140 satisfaction. Customer service department 122 alsocan receive input from customer 140 in the form of requested technicalinformation, for example, for confirming that instructions of thedisclosure can be applied to the particular need of customer 140, andcan provide output to customer 140 in the form of a response to therequested technical information.

As such, the components of organization 100 are suitably configured tocommunicate with each other to facilitate the transfer of materials andparts, other components, products, and information within organization100, and organization 100 is further suitably configured to receiveinput from or provide output to an outside party. For example, aphysical path can be utilized to transfer products from product storage117 to shipping department 119 upon receiving suitable input from orderdepartment 126. Order department 126, in comparison, can be linkedelectronically with other components within organization 100, forexample, by a communication network such as an intranet, and can befurther configured to receive input, for example, from customer 140 by atelephone network, by mail or other carrier service, or via theinternet. For electronic input and/or output, a direct electronic link,such as a T1 line or a direct wireless connection, can be established,particularly within organization 100 and, if desired, with distributor150 or materials or parts provider 130, or the like.

Although not illustrated, organization 100 has one or more datacollection systems, including, for example, a customer data collectionsystem, which can be realized as a personal computer, a computernetwork, a personal digital assistant (PDA), an audio recording medium,a document in which written entries are made, any suitable devicecapable of receiving data, or any combination of the foregoing. Datacollection systems can be used to gather data associated with a customer140 or distributor 150, including, for example, a customer's shippingaddress and billing address, as well as more specific information suchas a customer's or other acquirer's ordering history and paymenthistory, such data being useful, for example, to determine that theacquirer has made sufficient purchases to qualify for a discount on oneor more future purchases.

Organization 100 can utilize a number of software applications toprovide components of organization 100 with information or to provide aproduct or system acquirer access to one or more components oforganization 100, for example, access to order department 126 orcustomer service department 122. Such software applications can comprisea communication network such as the Internet, a local area network, oran intranet. For example, in an internet-based application, a customer140 can access a suitable web site and/or a web server that cooperateswith order department 126 such that customer 140 can provide input inthe form of an order to order department 126. In response, orderdepartment 126 can communicate with customer 140 to confirm that theorder has been received, and can further communicate with shippingdepartment 119, providing input that products should be shipped tocustomer 140. In this manner, the business of organization 100 canproceed in an efficient manner.

In a networked arrangement, billing department 124 and shippingdepartment 119, for example, can communicate with one another by way ofrespective computer systems. As used herein, the term “computer system”refers to general purpose computer systems such as network servers,laptop systems, desktop systems, handheld systems, personal digitalassistants, computing kiosks, and the like. Similarly, in accordancewith known techniques, distributor 150 can access a web site maintainedby organization 100 after establishing an online connection to thenetwork, particularly to order department 126, and can provide input inthe form of an order. If desired, a hard copy of an order placed withorder department 126 can be printed from the web browser applicationresident at distributor 150.

The various software modules associated with the implementation of thepresent disclosure can be suitably loaded into the computer systemsresident at organization 100 and any acquirer as desired, or thesoftware code can be stored on a computer-readable medium such as afloppy disk, magnetic tape, or an optical disk. In an onlineimplementation, a server and web site maintained by organization 100 canbe configured to provide software downloads to remote users such asdistributor 150, materials and parts 130, and the like. When implementedin software, the techniques of the present disclosure are carried out bycode segments and instructions associated with the various process tasksdescribed herein.

Thus, methods for selling or supplying products to such parties areprovided, as are methods related to sales or supplies, includingcustomer support, billing, product inventory management within theorganization, etc. Examples of such methods are shown in FIG. 19,including, for example, wherein materials and parts 130 can be acquiredfrom a source outside of organization 100 (e.g., a supplier) and used toprepare products, such as color coded labeled and capped bottles of DMEM120, for example, which can be maintained as an inventory in productstorage 117. The other components 116 can be obtained from a sourceoutside of organization 100 (materials and parts 130) or can be preparedwithin organization 100 (materials and parts 114). As such, the term“product” is used generally herein to refer an item sent to an acquirerof the product (a customer, a distributor, etc.).

At the appropriate time, the product is removed from product storage117, for example, by shipping department 119, and sent to a requestingparty such as customer 140 or distributor 150. Typically, such shippingoccurs in response to the acquirer placing an order, which is thenforwarded within the organization as exemplified in FIG. 19, and resultsin the ordered product being sent to the acquirer. Data regardingshipment of the product to the party is transmitted further within theorganization, for example, from shipping department 119 to billingdepartment 124, which, in turn, can transmit a bill to the acquirer,either with the product, or at a time after the product has been sent.Further, a bill can be sent in instances where the acquirer has not paidfor the product shipped within a certain period of time (e.g., within 30days, within 45 days, within 60 days, within 90 days, within 120 days,within from 30 days to 120 days, within from 45 days to 120 days, withinfrom 60 days to 120 days, within from 90 days to 120 days, within from30 days to 90 days, within from 30 days to 60 days, within from 30 daysto 45 days, within from 60 days to 90 days, or during a similar timeperiod). Typically, billing department 124 also is responsible forprocessing payment(s) made by the acquirer. It will be recognized thatvariations from the exemplified method can be utilized; for example,customer service department 122 can receive an order from the acquirer,and transmit the order to shipping department 119 (not shown), thusserving the functions exemplified in FIG. 19 by order department 126 andthe customer service department 122.

Methods of the disclosure also include providing technical service tothose using a product. While such a function can be performed byindividuals involved in product research and development, inquiriesrelated to technical service generally are handled, routed, and/ordirected by an administrative department of the organization (e.g.,customer service department 122). Often communications related totechnical service (e.g., solving problems related to use of the productor individual components of the product) require a two way exchange ofinformation, as exemplified by arrows indicating pathways ofcommunication between customer 140 and customer service department 122.

As mentioned above, any number of variations of the process exemplifiedin FIG. 19 are possible and within the scope of the disclosure.Accordingly, the disclosure includes methods (e.g., business methods)that involve (1) the production of products; (2) receiving orders forthese products; (3) sending the products to parties placing such orders;(4) sending bills to parties obliged to pay for products sent to such;and/or (5) receiving payment for products sent to parties. For example,methods are provided that comprise two or more of the following steps:(a) obtaining parts, materials, and/or components from a supplier; (b)preparing one or more first products (e.g., a bottle or a color codedlabel); (c) storing the one or more first products of step (b); (d)combining the one or more first products of step (b) with one or moreother components to form one or more second products (e.g., a colorcoded labeled and covered bottle of DMEM 120 culture medium, forexample); (e) storing the one or more first products of step (b) or oneor more second products of step (d); (f) obtaining an order of a firstproduct of step (b) or a second product of step (d); (g) shipping eitherthe first product of step (b) or the second product of step (d) to theparty that placed the order of step (f); (h) tracking data regarding theamount of money owed by the party to which the product is shipped instep (g); (i) sending a bill to the party to which the product isshipped in step (g); (j) obtaining payment for the product shipped instep (g) (generally, but not necessarily, the payment is made by theparty to which the product was shipped in step (g)); and (k) exchangingtechnical information between the organization and a party in possessionof a product shipped in step (d) (typically, the party to which theproduct was shipped in step (g)).

The present disclosure also provides systems and methods for providinginformation as to availability of a product (e.g., a bottle or a colorcoded labeled and covered bottle containing DMEM 120, for example) toparties having potential interest in the availability of the product.Such a method, which encompasses a method of advertising to the generalor a specified public, the availability of the product can be performed,for example, by transmitting product description data to an outputsource, for example, an advertiser; further transmitting to the outputsource instructions to publish the product information data in mediaaccessible to the potential interested parties; and detectingpublication of the data in the media, thereby providing information asto availability of the product to parties having potential interest inthe availability of the product.

Accordingly, the present disclosure provides methods for advertisingand/or marketing devices, products, and/or methods of the disclosure,such methods providing the advantage of inducing and/or increasing thesales of such devices, products, and/or methods. For example,advertising and/or marketing methods of the disclosure include those inwhich technical specifications and/or descriptions of devices and/orproducts; methods of using the devices and/or products; and/orinstructions for practicing the methods and/or using the devices and/orproducts are presented to potential interested parties, particularlypotential purchasers of the product such as customers, distributors, andthe like. In particular embodiments, the advertising and/or marketingmethods involve presenting such information in a tangible or anintangible form to the potential interested parties. As disclosed hereinand well known in the art, the term “intangible form” means a form thatcannot be physically handled and includes, for example, electronic media(e.g., e-mail, internet web pages, etc.), broadcasts (e.g., television,radio, etc.), and direct contacts (e.g., telephone calls betweenindividuals, between automated machines and individuals, betweenmachines, etc.); whereas the term “tangible form” means a form that canbe physically handled.

The disclosure further provides methods associated with the design ofcustom products. These methods include, for example, (1) the taking anorder from a customer for medium with specific ingredient percentages,(2) preparation of one or more color coded labeled and covered bottlescontaining the medium, (3) and providing (e.g., shipping) the product tothe customer. Additionally, in particular embodiments, the customer maybe billed for the medium with the bill either being sent to the customeralong with the medium or sent separately.

FIG. 20 provides a schematic diagram of an information-providingmanagement system as encompassed within the present disclosure. Inpractice, the blocks in FIG. 20 can represent any organization which canbe one legal entity or a combination of entities that provides productsor systems as disclosed herein, which can include departments in asingle building or in different buildings, a computer program or suiteof programs maintained by one or more computers, a group of employees orcontractors, a computer I/O device such as a printer or fax machine, athird party entity or company that is otherwise unaffiliated with thecompany, or the like.

The information-providing management system as shown in FIG. 20 isexemplified by organization 200, which makes, purchases, or otherwisemakes available that organization 200 wishes to sell to interestedparties. To this end, product descriptions 230 are made, providinginformation that would lead potential users to believe that products 220can be useful to user or other acquirer. In order to effect transfer ofproduct descriptions 230 to the potential users or other acquirers,product descriptions 230 are provided to advertising agency 240, whichcan be an entity separate from organization 200, or to advertisingdepartment 245, which can be an entity related to organization 200, forexample, a subsidiary. Based on the product descriptions 230,advertisement 250 is generated and is provided to media accessible topotential purchasers of products 260, who may then contact organization200 to purchase products 220.

By way of example, product descriptions 230 can be in a tangible formsuch as written descriptions, which can be delivered (e.g., mailed,couriered, etc.) to advertising agency 240 and/or advertising department245, or can be in an intangible form such as entered into and stored ina database (e.g., on a computer, in an electronic media, etc.) andtransmitted to advertising agency 240 and/or advertising department 245over a telephone line, T1 line, wireless network, or the like.Similarly, advertisement 250 can be a tangible or intangible form suchthat it conveniently and effectively can be provided to potentialparties of interest (e.g., potential purchasers of product 260). Forexample, advertisement 250 can be provided in printed form as flyers(e.g., at a meeting or other congregation of potential interestedparties) or as printed pages (or portions thereof) in magazines known tobe read by the potential interested parties (e.g., trade magazines,journals, newspapers, etc.). In addition, or alternatively,advertisement 250 can be provided in the form of directed mailing ofcomputer media containing the advertisement (e.g., CDs, DVDs, floppydiscs, etc.) or of e-mail (i.e., mail or e-mail that is sent only toselected parties, for example, parties known to members of anorganization that includes or is likely to include potential users orother acquirers of products 220); of web pages (e.g., on a websiteprovided by organization 200, or having links to the organization 200website); or of pop-up or pop-under ads on web pages known to be visitedby potential purchaser of products 260, and the like. Potentialpurchasers or other acquirers of products 260, upon being apprised ofthe availability of the products 220, can then contact organization 200and, if so desired, can order said products 220 for organization 200(see FIG. 19).

Also provided are methods for advertising which are designed to (1)result in increased sales, (2) to result in increased numbers ofcustomers which use one or more products, and/or (3) to affect choicesby potential customers which result in the selection of one product overanother by the potential customers. These methods may include, forexample, describing features of a product of the disclosure (e.g., acombination of (A) a reagent and (B) a container (1) with a label and/or(2) having features described elsewhere herein). In many instances,advertising methods of the disclosure will be in tangible form, such asflyers (e.g., brochures or cards suitable for mailing, posters presentedat trade shows, etc.), newsletters, print advertisement in periodicals(e.g., newspapers, magazines, etc.).

The disclosure further includes advertisements themselves. Thus, thedisclosure includes, for example, a composition comprising a full pageor partial page advertisement in a magazine (e.g., a trade relatedmagazine such as Science, Biochemistry, The Journal of MolecularBiology, Virology, etc.) in which features of products with one or moreaspect of the disclosure are presented and/or compared to one or moreadditional products. These one or more additional products may beavailable from the same supplier, different suppliers, or thecombination of the same supplier and one or more different suppliers.When a supplier of the products with one or more aspect of thedisclosure provides a comparison with a product from the same supplier,the advertisement will often be designed to present new features of theproducts with one or more aspect of the disclosure to educate potentialcustomers. In some instances, comparisons between different productswill be in graphic form (e.g., photographs, charts, tables, etc.). Oneexample of a type of table which could be used in advertisements isTable 1.

TABLE 1 Percentage of Users with a Favorable Opinion ErgonomicSupplier/Product Comfort Label Feature(s) Overall Product Supplier X Y Z1/Product A Supplier X′ Y′ Z′ 1/Product B Supplier X″ Y″ Z″ 1/Product CSupplier X′″ Y′″ Z′″ 2/Product D Supplier X″″ Y″″ Z″″ 3/Product E

The values X, Y, and Z may represent percentages. These data may also beshown as an average opinion of users based upon a scale of, for example,1 to 10. Data such as standard deviation and user group size may also beincluded.

The disclosure also includes methods for performing comparative studiesbetween products and/or product format (e.g., two products which eachcomprise a container with the same reagent but differing in label and/orcontainer design). These comparative studies may include, for example,(1) providing one or more products with one or more aspects of thepresent disclosure to one or more sets of users (e.g., people who useproducts of the kind, such as laboratory bench scientists, etc.), (2)use of the provided product(s) by the users, (3) receiving data relatedto the opinion of users regarding the provided product(s), andoptionally (4) assessing the data received to determine the results ofthe comparison. Comparative studies may or may not include providingand/or use of additional products (e.g., products to which products withone or more aspect of the disclosure are to be compared) by users whoare to provide the data referred to above in step (3).

In many instances, it will not be necessary for users to actually useadditional products at the same time as one or more products with one ormore aspect of the disclosure. This is so because, for example, manyusers will be familiar with the additional products. Also, in instanceswhere a comparative study is to be done with users who are not familiarwith the additional products, a “blind” study can be performed. In otherwords, comparative studies can be performed by different users who eachsupply data related to different products. Using data from Table 1 as anexample, one set of users may use Supplier 1/Product A. These users maythen provide their opinions regarding ergonomic comfort, labelfeature(s), and the overall product, as well as other items. Similardata may be obtained from other users for other products (e.g., otherproducts as set out in Table 1).

The disclosure also includes methods for increasing market share forparticular product items or product categories. Examples of productitems or product categories include particular reagents such as buffers(e.g., Tris-EDTA, pH 8.0), culture media, culture media components(e.g., fetal calf serum; concentrated solutions of amino acid, such as a10× or 100× solution; etc.). In particular, methods of the disclosureinclude those in which products with one or more aspect of thedisclosure (1) are brought to the attention of potential customers and(2) a particular percentage of the potential customers who previouslypurchased other products (i.e., products lacking some or all aspects ofthe disclosure) begin purchasing products with one or more aspect of thedisclosure instead of the other products. The percentage of potentialcustomers who switch from purchasing other products to purchasingproducts with one or more aspect of the disclosure may vary greatly butmay be between 1% and 10%, 1% and 20%, 1% and 30%, 1% and 40%, 1% and60%, 1% and 80%, 1% and 100%, 10% and 20%, 10% and 40%, 10% and 50%, 10%and 70%, 10% and 85%, 10% and 100%, 30% and 60%, 30% and 80%, 30% and100%, 40% and 60%, 40% and 80%, 40% and 100%, 50% and 70%, 50% and 90%,50% and 100%, etc. In some aspect, the percentage of potential customerswho switch from purchasing other products to purchasing products withone or more aspect of the disclosure may be greater than 2%, greaterthan 5%, greater than 10%, greater than 20%, greater than 30%, greaterthan 40%, greater than 50%, greater than 65%, greater than 75%, greaterthan 85%, etc. The percentage of potential customers who switch formpurchasing other products to products with one or more aspect of thedisclosure may be determined by any means known in the art, and can bedetermined in certain embodiments by survey. In this method arepresentative number of users or former users of the products are askedto complete a survey with questions designed to determine the amount ofuse of the products prior to, and after having seen the advertisement.The number of customers or potential customers who have begun or stoppedusing any particular product or group of products can then bedetermined.

Another method for determining product acceptance and/or increase inmarket share is by, for example, the number of parties which switch frompurchasing Product A in Table 1 to Product B. Since Products A and B aresold by the same Supplier, the Supplier will often have all of theinformation necessary to determine the number and/or percentage ofparties who at one time point purchased Product A purchased Product B atanother time point (e.g., a later time point).

Kits

In another aspect, the disclosure provides kits which may be used inconjunction with the products and method disclosed herein. Thedisclosure thus includes kits which contain products of the disclosure.Kits according to this aspect of the disclosure may comprise one or morecontainers, which may contain one or more reagent contained in one ormore containers which contain one or more features of the disclosure.

Kits of the disclosure include kits for performing any number ofprocesses (e.g., PCR, cell culture, molecular cloning, etc.). Dependingon the function and/or functional aspects of the particular kit, the kitmay contain one or more of the following components: (1) one or morenucleic acid molecule or vector, (2) one or more primer, (3) one or morepolymerase, (4) one or more reverse transcriptases, (5) one or morebuffers, (6) one or more detergent, (7) one or more transfectionreagent, and/or (8) one or more culture medium. Additional items mayalso be included in the kits. Further, one or more kit components maycomprise a container with one or more features described herein (e.g.,the container may be a bottle with at least one feature describedherein).

As noted above, one or more (e.g., one, two, three, four, five, eight,ten, fifteen, etc.) buffers may be supplied in kits. These buffers maybe supplied at a working concentrations or may be supplied inconcentrated form and then diluted to the working concentrations. Thesebuffers often contain salt, metal ions, co-factors, metal ion chelatingagents, etc. for the enhancement of activities of the stabilization ofeither the buffer itself or molecules in the buffer. Further, thesebuffers may be supplied in dried or aqueous forms. When buffers aresupplied in a dried form, they are generally dissolved in water prior touse.

Kits may contain virtually any combination of the components set outabove or described elsewhere herein. As one skilled in the art wouldrecognize, the components supplied with kits vary with the intended usefor the kits. Thus, kits may be designed to perform various functionsset out in this application and the components of such kits varyaccordingly. As a general rule, however, the components of a kit areenclosed in a container or box in close confinement for shipping andstorage in a single container or box. The container may further containtechnical information, instructions for use of the kit or any of itscomponents, re-ordering information and/or information regarding relatedproducts.

It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the relevant arts thatother suitable modifications and adaptations to the methods andapplications described herein are readily apparent from the descriptionscontained herein in view of information known to the ordinarily skilledartisan, and may be made without departing from the scope or spirit ofany embodiment thereof, or of the appended claims.

The following examples are included to demonstrate specific embodimentsof the disclosure. It should be appreciated by those of skill in the artthat the techniques disclosed in the examples which follow representtechniques discovered by the inventor to function well in the practiceof the disclosure, and thus can be considered to constitute examples ofmodes for its practice. However, those of skill in the art should, inlight of the present disclosure, appreciate that many changes can bemade in the specific embodiments which are disclosed and still obtain alike or similar result without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention.

EXAMPLE 1

An example of a cellular growth media product that is marketed bycatalog is Basal Medium Eagle (BME) (1×). The product, BME, which may beavailable in a 500 ml volume is in the Basal Media type or group ofproducts and that type of product is indicated in this example by a limegreen color. Within the basal media family or type are other mediaproducts such as BGJb medium, Brinster's BMOC-3 Medium, CMRL Medium,CO₂-Independent Medium, Cryopreservation Medium, Dulbecco's ModifiedEagle Media (D-MEM), F-10 Nutrient Mixtures, F-12 Nutrient Mixtures,Glasgow Minimum Essential Media, Grace's Insect Cell Culture Media,Improved MEM Zn++ Option (Richter's Modification), IPL-41 Insect Media,Iscove's Modified Dulbecco's Media, Leibovitz's L-15 Media, McCoy's 5AMedia (modified), MCDB 131 Medium, Media 199, Medium NCTC-109, MinimumEssential Media (MEM), Modified Eagle Medium (MEM), Opti-MEM® I ReducedSerum Media, RPMI Media 1640, Schneider's Drosophila Medium, Waymouth'sMB 752/1 Media, Williams Media E, media formulated for amniotic fluidcells, media formulated for chorionic villus samples, media formulatedfor peripheral blood lymphocytes, or media formulated for bone marrowcells, for example.

All members of the media type may be packaged in the same color code,lime green in this example. Each member of the family would also beassociated with a simple number or numeric code such as a one to threedigit number, for example. In the present example then, a product suchas BME (1×) in a 500 ml volume may be associated with lime green 58.This product is then packaged in a bottle with a prominent lime greencolor region on the label, a matching prominent lime green color regionon the cover, a prominent product identifier of 58 in lime green on thelabel, and a prominent product identifier of 58 in lime green on thecover. Thus lime green represents the color coded identifier for themedia group or subgroup and 58 refers to BME (1×) in a 500 ml bottle.The label may contain additional information but need not necessarilyhave such information.

Alternatively, a subgroup of several media types may be grouped togetherand identified by a single color, and each member product within thatgroup is identified by a number. For example, Minimal Essential Media isa sub-group of basal media that may be identified by a color red, forexample. Individual products of Minimum Essential Media, may beidentified by numbers. For example, Advanced MEM in a 500 ml bottle maybe associated with number 35, and Advanced MEM sold in a packagecontaining ten 500 ml bottles may be associated with number 37.Therefore a user or customer would indicate “red 35” to order the 500 mlbottle of Advanced MEM, rather than having to provide the catalognumber, 12492-013, for example. This exemplifies the ease of orderingand recognition provided by the present disclosure.

EXAMPLE 2

In certain embodiments, various media subfamilies such as Dulbecco'sModified Eagle Medium DMEM may be identified by a separate color such asblue. In this case, various formulations and volumes of DMEM would beassociated with individual numbers. For example, Dulbecco's ModifiedEagle Medium (DMEM) (low glucose) (500 mL) may be packaged in a bottlewith a prominent blue color region on the label, a matching prominentblue color region on the cover, a prominent product identifier of 120 inblue on the label, and a prominent product identifier of 120 in blue onthe cover. Thus blue represents the color coded identifier for DMEM and120 is the product identifier that can be used to refer to the specificmedium in the DMEM class, here 500 mL bottles of low glucose DMEM.Again, the label may contain additional information but need notnecessarily have such information.

EXAMPLE 3

An example of a product and package embodiment of the disclosure may bebetter understood by referring to FIGS. 8, 9 & 10. The following exampleis a microbiological liquid product packaged in an ergonomic containerthat has color coded labels and covers to identify the specific product.This system increases user efficiency and decreases the likelihood ofcontamination and spillage. In doing so, the system also decreasesoperating costs and the time required for the completion of researchprojects.

The bottle or container of this example is shown in front view in FIG.8. The bottle has a rectangular footprint for efficient storage in rowsin a refrigerator, on a shelf, or in a shipping container. The bottlealso provides an angled top to provide angled access to the opening andalso to provide an angled surface toward the rear for easily readablelabeling. The features of the bottle include a cover 302 designed foreasy one handed opening by including a ridge 304 for easy gripping. Theridge also serves as an indicator of the open or closed position of thecover, when combined with the embossed circle 306 on the bottle. Thisfeature reduces the need for further contact with the bottle to checkthe position of the cover, as required with the traditionally roundcovers, reduces the likelihood that an open bottle will be picked up tobe placed in storage, causing a spill, and reduces the likelihood that abottle will be accidentally left open, thus risking contamination andthe waste of product or worse, the loss of valuable cell cultures.

The top plane of the container shown in FIG. 8, that does not containthe opening, may functions as (1) a gripping surface to stabilize thebottle during removal of the cap, (2) a resting surface for the hand,and (3) an affordance to stabilize the bottle during pipetting of thefluid.

In many instances, containers of the invention (e.g., the containershown in FIG. 8) will be designed such that when a pipette is insertedperpendicular to the plane of the opening of the container, it pointsdirectly at the opposite corner of the container. The functional benefitof this is to allow retrieval of the last bit of fluid in the container.An additional benefit can be to decrease the amount of vertical motionthat the user must employ in order to introduce the pipette into theopening. This imparts a substantial ergonomic benefit to the user, inthat the user has a reduced need to raise his arm and the pipette aboveshoulder level. This may be important when containers of the inventionare used under a flow hood.

It is a particularly advantageous aspect of this embodiment that thecontainers can be stored in one of two positions. The bottles can beplaced in close proximity or in abutment in rows standing on the bottomsurface thereof for a space saving arrangement. In this configurationthe cover, any information on the cover, and the opening are availablefrom the front, even for bottles that are not in the front row. Thelabel information is also available from the rear as provided by theangled rear surface of the top as shown in FIG. 9. The containers canalso be stacked on top of each other as shown in FIG. 10, while thecover and its information are still available even for the bottom rows.Another advantage to this design is that the bottles can be in eitherthe vertical or horizontal position without having the liquid contentsin contact with the cover, thus decreasing the probability forcontamination. This storage versatility maximizes the user's ability toutilize space in incubators, hoods, refrigerators, and other storagechambers thereby increasing efficiency. Additionally, this allows usersto store more materials in a smaller space ensuring that adequatesupplies for experiments may be retained on-site without incurringprohibitive overhead capital and maintenance costs. The bottles havesignificantly less dead space when stored, as compared to theconventional media bottles shown in FIGS. 1 & 2.

As disclosed herein, optional protrusions and/or indentations allow forincreased stability of containers when stacked. This added stabilityfurther decreases the risk of contamination or spilling, allows forincreased efficiency through more sure movements under the hood, andencourages the efficient use of space by reducing the risk thatcontainers will fall from stacked positions.

Unlike the conventional rounded bottle shown in FIG. 1, the relativelyboxy shape of the example provides flat surfaces for marking andwriting. When users attempt to write on rounded bottles the writing canoften be messy or less legible thereby increasing the likelihood that asubsequent reading of the annotations will be difficult. Thisdifficulty, in turn, makes it much more likely that mix ups will occurthan if a bottle is clearly and legibly marked. The planar surfaces ofthe bottle also make manipulation of the bottle easier because it canrest on more than one surface, e.g., it doesn't have to sit on thebottom to be stable. The angled opening and neck of the bottle makepipetting easy compared to conventional bottles possessing an openingparallel with the bottom of the bottle, and in which a pipette must beraised straight up over the bottle for use, often requiring laboratorypersonnel to lean over the bench to reach the bottle, thus increasingthe chance of an accidental spill or contamination. The exemplifiedbottle, in contrast, provides a 45 access so the worker can remainseated and simply reach over to the bottle at a more convenient angle.This bottle design thus reduces the required motion and range ofmovement for transferring liquids into and out of the bottle, reducesthe chances for accidents or spills and increases operating efficiencyfor the user.

Furthermore, the angled neck of the bottle is also useful to increaseefficiency by allowing users to quickly determine the contents of abottle by providing instant identification of the contents by viewingthe color coded cover. Unlike conventional bottles, the angled topbottle allows the user to view the top of the cover when the bottle isstanding on the bottom surface or lying on the front surface in a stackof bottles, for example. By angling the neck of the bottle, the covercan always be positioned towards the observer, rather than towards theupper inside surface of the storage unit, and the contents of the bottledo not contact the cover in either configuration.

As shown in FIG. 8, for example, stripe 308 is in the coded color forthis product group and printed within this stripe is the numberidentifier for this particular product. For example, if the product is a500 mL bottle of low glucose DMEM as described in Example 2, the stripewould be blue and a number “120” would appear in the stripe. This bluestripe is continuous around three sides of the bottle and is easilyvisible from the rear as shown in FIG. 9. The number is optionallyrepeated on the side and back surface labels when the colored stripe ispresent. The label further provides an area 310 for other productinformation including the name of the product, the supplier's name, etc.This information is again repeated on the label 312 on the angled rearsurface of the top for easy visual access. The label also providesfurther manufacturer or provider information such as lot number, catalognumber, storage conditions, etc. on a lower portion 314 of the frontlabel. The lower portion of the rear label 316 is optionally blank whitespace, convenient for user annotation.

It is a further aspect of the present example as described above, thatthe cover requires rotation of less than 360° and optionally only 90° tomove from the closed, and sealed position to the open position. Thisfeature is very beneficial in the laboratory setting in which often thebottle must be opened with one hand, and that hand often is alreadyholding a pipetter or other liquid transfer mechanism. The interlockingportions of the interior of the cover and the exterior of the bottleneck have been designed in a manner such that a ninety degree rotationmoves the cover from the closed and locked position to the openposition. An example of such a locking mechanism is the luer fittingthat is well know and widely used in the art of medical devices such assyringes and intravenous administrative tubing.

As described in the previous examples, the cover in this example is madeof primarily white material so user annotation is easily seen and read.The cover also includes a label that includes a circular stripe 320 inthe coded color, in this example blue and the number identifier in largetype in the center 330 of the circle. Thus, the cover label would have alarge 120 in blue surrounded by a blue circle. This identifies theproduct as “120 blue”, or “blue 120.” The color and number code identifya specific product and can be seen from arm's length, or from a distanceof at least three feet by a person with normal vision. The userannotation space also allows users to differentiate between bottles ofthe same content type without sacrificing the ability to easilydifferentiate one content class from another by viewing the cover only.

The container shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 also contain a front angled, upperpanel 340, a rear angled, upper panel 343, a right side panel 342, aleft side panel 345, a front panel 341, a rear panel 344, and a basepanel upon which the container rests (not numbered in FIGS. 8 and 9).Thus, the container shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 contain seven panels.

The labels in the present example thus are optionally opaque, twosection labels, that may be a single label wrapped around the containeror one or more separate labels affixed to the front and back surfaces ofthe container, and possibly to one side. The labels also prominentlydisplay the color code by a large colored stripe or colored area of thelabel and the product number, which allows the user to quickly identifythe contents of a bottle by looking at the label. The color coding ispresent on both the front and back sections as a large region of color.This colored region allows identification of the contents of the bottlewithout requiring the user to handle the bottle, unlike conventionalproduct labels. In addition, cross contamination between bottles withdifferent classes of contents is reduced based on the common colorcoding of cover and label. If only the cover is color coded, once thecover is removed, it no longer identifies a particular bottle. As such,a user who removed the cover from two different bottles with differentcolor codes would not know, without relying on memory, which coverbelonged to which bottle. The labels in system solve this problem bycoordinating the cover with the bottle.

In the embodiment described in this example, the labels can provide alarge amount of blank space for user annotation and marking. This spaceallows the user to individually identify particular bottles with ease,describe additions to the contents, note the date the bottle was opened,and any other information that may be important without obscuring eitherthe color or number code for the original contents. The rear section ofthe label has a limited amount of information on it to provide the userwith the most space for marking. Critical information such as theproduct identifier, company logo, descriptive product name, and volumemay appear on the front label in the colored region. The front label maycontain more detailed text in addition to the information found on theback label including the specific product details, catalog reordernumber, lot number, expiration date, temperature range, lightsensitivity, and product warnings.

A side panel view of a container similar to that shown in FIGS. 8 and 9is shown in FIG. 26A. Related embodiments are shown in FIGS. 26B and26C. In FIGS. 26A, 26B and 26C, A, B, C, D, and E represent lengths and503, 504, 505, 506, and 507 represent angles.

As one skilled in the art would recognize, container shape will changewith changes in lengths A, B, C, D, and E and angles 503, 504, 505, 506,and 507. Lengths A and B, for example, may be the same or different.When lengths A and B are the same and are parallel to each other, then(1) angles 506 and 507 will typically total 180 degrees and (2) angles503, 504, and 505 will typically total 180 degrees. Further, when 506and 507 do not total 180 degrees, the total of the sum of angles 503,504, and 505 will typically not equal 180 degrees. This is so because,as long as the side panel shown in FIG. 26A is flat (i.e., occupies theX and Y planes, with a straight line cross-section in the Z plane), thetotal of angles 503, 504, 505, 506, and 507 will be 360 degrees.

Often, angles 506 and 507 will total 180 degrees and each of theseangles will be 90 degrees. Further, often, angles 503, 504, and 505 willtotal to 180 degrees and, in many instances, each of these angles willbe 60 degrees. However, in some instances, angles 504 and 505 will beequal and these two angles will be different than angle 503. Forexample, angles 504 and 505 may each be 50 degrees and angle 503 may be80 degrees. These angles will often influence the lengths D and E. Inparticular, in many instances, as angles 504 and 505 become larger,lengths D and E will often become longer.

In many instances, containers described herein will have at least oneopening. This opening may be used for adding contents to or removingcontents from the container. In FIGS. 8 and 9, an opening is shown in apanel which is in the Z plane along length D or E in FIGS. 26A and 26B.An opening, when present, may be present anywhere in the container.Typically, an opening will be present and will be located essentially asshown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

The lengths of A, B, C, D, and E may vary considerably. These variationsin lengths will be determined by any number of factors including, forexample, the intended use of the container, which will often bedetermined, at least in part, by the intended contents of thecontainers. Some factors which may determine the lengths of A, B, C, D,and E include (a) the required or desired stability of the containerwhen positioned on the side having the length A, B, C, D, or E; (b) theinterior volume the container; (c) the depth of the container in planeZ; and (d) the angle of an opening, when present.

Exemplary lengths of A, B, C, D, and E independently include from about0.5 centimeters to about 50 centimeters, from about 1.0 centimeters toabout 50 centimeters, from about 3.0 centimeters to about 50centimeters, from about 5.0 centimeters to about 50 centimeters, fromabout 7.0 centimeters to about 50 centimeters, from about 10 centimetersto about 50 centimeters, from about 15 centimeters to about 50centimeters, from about 20 centimeters to about 50 centimeters, fromabout 25 centimeters to about 50 centimeters, from about 0.5 centimetersto about 35 centimeters, from about 1 centimeters to about 35centimeters, from about 5.0 centimeters to about 35 centimeters, fromabout 10 centimeters to about 35 centimeters, from about 15 centimetersto about 35 centimeters, from about 20 centimeters to about 35centimeters, from about 25 centimeters to about 35 centimeters, fromabout 0.5 centimeters to about 25 centimeters, from about 1.0centimeters to about 25 centimeters, from about 5.0 centimeters to about25 centimeters, from about 7.0 centimeters to about 25 centimeters, fromabout 10 centimeters to about 25 centimeters, from about 15 centimetersto about 25 centimeters, etc.

While lengths A and B (side 501) in FIGS. 26A, 26B and 26C may bedifferent, in many instances, lengths A and B will be the same or almostthe same (e.g., the difference being less than about 2%). In manyinstances, when lengths A and B are the same, this will allow topcontainers to be readily stacked, as shown in FIG. 10. Thus, in manyinstances, the ratio of lengths A:B will be 1.0:1.0. However, the ratioof length A:B may be in the ranges of from about 1.0:0.25 to about0.25:1.0, from about 1.0:0.5 to about 0.25:1.0, from about 1.0:0.25 toabout 0.5:1.0, from about 1.0:1.0 to about 0.25:1.0, from about 1.0:0.25to about 1.1:1.0, from about 1.0:0.75 to about 0.75:1.0, etc.

While lengths D and E in FIGS. 26A, 26B and 26C may be different, inmany instances, lengths D and E will be the same or almost the same(e.g., the difference being less than about 2%). Thus, in manyinstances, the ratio of lengths D:E will be 1.0:1.0. However, the ratioof length D:E may be in the ranges of from about 1.0:0.25 to about0.25:1.0, from about 1.0:0.5 to about 0.25:1.0, from about 1.0:0.25 toabout 0.5:1.0, from about 1.0:1.0 to about 0.25:1.0, from about 1.0:0.25to about 1.1:1.0, from about 1.0:0.75 to about 0.75:1.0, etc.

In instances where a container is positioned in manner in which the sidehaving length A is positioned downward on a surface, an opening may bepresent on the side having length E. When this is the case, the angle ofthe opening on the side having length E may be adjusted by adjusting thesides having lengths B, D, and/or E (side 500). For example, when acontainer with a side panel as shown in FIG. 26A is rested on the basepanel on a flat surface and angles 503, 504, and 505 are each 60degrees, the angle of side E (and hence an opening on side E), willtypically be about 45 degrees.

The lengths of sides B, D, and/or E and/or angles 503, 504, and/or 505may be altered to change, for example, the angle of an opening, whenpresent. The angle of an angled, upper panel (e.g., an angled, upperpanel with an opening, such as panel 340) may be adjusted, for example,to minimize contact of the contents with this panel. For example, when acontainer of this type is positioned on a surface and rests upon backpanel 344, as shown in FIG. 10, it may be desirable to minimize contactof the container's contents with panel 340. In such an instance, panel340 may be “angled” away from the contents. This can be done when theopening is located in the panel adjacent to side E by lengthening sideD.

Using a container such as that shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 and resting on thebase panel for reference, containers of the invention include those inwhich panel 340 is positioned at an angle other than 45 degrees.Examples of such container are those which contain either one or twoside panels as shown in FIGS. 26B and 26C. Exemplary angles for panel340 are about 25 degrees, about 35 degrees, about 40 degrees, about 50degrees, about 55 degrees, about 60 degrees, about 70 degrees, etc.Ranges of angles for panel 340 are between from about 25 degrees toabout 70 degrees, from about 35 degrees to about 70 degrees, from about45 degrees to about 70 degrees, from about 25 degrees to about 60degrees, from about 25 degrees to about 50 degrees, from about 25degrees to about 45 degrees, from about 25 degrees to about 44 degrees,from about 46 degrees to about 70 degrees, etc.

The length A in FIG. 26A, as well as in other embodiments of theinvention, may be longer than, equal to, or shorter than the length C.The ratio of lengths A:C may, for example, be the following: about0.5:1.0, about 1.0:1.0, about 1.5:1, about 2.0:1, about 2.5:1.0, about3.0:1, about 3.5:1, etc. The ratio of lengths A:C may also be in thefollowing ranges: from about 0.5:1.0 to about 3.5:1, from about 1.0:1.0to about 3.5:1, from about 1.5:1.0 to about 3.5:1, from about 2.0:1.0 toabout 3.5:1, from about 0.5:1.0 to about 2.5:1, from about 0.5:1.0 toabout 2.5:1, from about 0.5:1.0 to about 2.0:1, from about 1.5:1.0 toabout 2.5:1, etc. For example, when the length A is 10 centimeters andthe length C is 5.0 centimeters, the ratio of A:C is 2.0:1.0.

In many instances, angles 506 and 507 will each be 90 degree angles (asshown in FIGS. 26A and 26B).

The total volume within a container having a side panel such as thatshown in FIGS. 26A and 26B or a variation thereof (e.g., a variationdescribed herein), will vary with a number of factors, such as lengthsof the side lengths A, B, C (side 502), D, and E and angles 503, 504,505, 506, and 507 and depth of the container in the Z plane. Exemplarycontainer volumes are 25 milliliters, 75 milliliters, 100 milliliters,125 milliliters, 150 milliliters, 200 milliliters, 250 milliliters, 300milliliters, 350 milliliters, 400 milliliters, 450 milliliters, 500milliliters, 600 milliliters, 700 milliliters, 800 milliliters, 850milliliters, 900 milliliters, 1000 milliliters, 1500 milliliters, 2000milliliters, 2500 milliliters, 3000 milliliters, 4000 milliliters, etc.Container of the invention may be designed to contain volumes in theranges of from about 25 milliliters to about 5000 milliliters, fromabout 50 milliliters to about 5000 milliliters, from about 100milliliters to about 5000 milliliters, from about 200 milliliters toabout 5000 milliliters, from about 300 milliliters to about 5000milliliters, from about 400 milliliters to about 5000 milliliters, fromabout 500 milliliters to about 5000 milliliters, from about 750milliliters to about 5000 milliliters, from about 100 milliliters toabout 5000 milliliters, from about 25 milliliters to about 4000milliliters, from about 100 milliliters to about 4000 milliliters, fromabout 200 milliliters to about 4000 milliliters, from about 300milliliters to about 4000 milliliters, from about 400 milliliters toabout 4000 milliliters, from about 500 milliliters to about 4000milliliters, from about 700 milliliters to about 4000 milliliters, fromabout 800 milliliters to about 4000 milliliters, from about 900milliliters to about 4000 milliliters, from about 1000 milliliters toabout 4000 milliliters, from about 25 milliliters to about 3000milliliters, from about 100 milliliters to about 3000 milliliters, fromabout 200 milliliters to about 3000 milliliters, from about 300milliliters to about 3000 milliliters, from about 400 milliliters toabout 3000 milliliters, from about 500 milliliters to about 3000milliliters, from about 600 milliliters to about 3000 milliliters, fromabout 700 milliliters to about 3000 milliliters, from about 800milliliters to about 3000 milliliters, from about 900 milliliters toabout 3000 milliliters, from about 1000 milliliters to about 3000milliliters, from about 25 milliliters to about 2000 milliliters, fromabout 100 milliliters to about 2000 milliliters, from about 200milliliters to about 2000 milliliters, from about 300 milliliters toabout 2000 milliliters, from about 400 milliliters to about 2000milliliters, from about 500 milliliters to about 2000 milliliters, fromabout 700 milliliters to about 2000 milliliters, from about 800milliliters to about 2000 milliliters, from about 1000 milliliters toabout 2000 milliliters, from about 25 milliliters to about 1500milliliters, from about 100 milliliters to about 1500 milliliters, fromabout 200 milliliters to about 1500 milliliters, from about 300milliliters to about 1500 milliliters, from about 400 milliliters toabout 1500 milliliters, from about 500 milliliters to about 1500milliliters, from about 700 milliliters to about 1500 milliliters, fromabout 900 milliliters to about 1500 milliliters, from about 100milliliters to about 1500 milliliters, from about 25 milliliters toabout 1000 milliliters, from about 100 milliliters to about 1000milliliters, from about 200 milliliters to about 1000 milliliters, fromabout 300 milliliters to about 1000 milliliters, from about 400milliliters to about 1000 milliliters, from about 500 milliliters toabout 1000 milliliters, from about 600 milliliters to about 1000milliliters, from about 700 milliliters to about 1000 milliliters, fromabout 25 milliliters to about 750 milliliters, from about 100milliliters to about 750 milliliters, from about 200 milliliters toabout 750 milliliters, etc.

A panel of a container of the invention is shown in FIGS. 27A and 27B.The opening 508 has a size of length G and a depth of length F. Further,this panel may have a height of length H and a width of length I. LengthH will often be the same or similar to length D and/or E of FIG. 26A,26B, or 26C.

Opening 508 may be positioned anywhere on a panel on which it ispresent. Opening 508 may be centered in the middle of the panel or maybe shifted higher than the center, lower than the center, or to theright or left of the center. For example, the H:J ratio (i.e., the ratioof the difference between the lengths H and J) may be about 10:1.0,about 8.0:1.0, about 7.0:1.0, about 5.0:1.0, about 3.5:1.0, about3.0:1.0, about 2.5:1.0, about 2.0:1.0, about 1.8:1.0, about 1.5:1.0,about 1.3:1.0, about 1.2:1.0, about 1.1:1.0, etc. In many instances,when the length H is relatively small, as compared to the length J(e.g., the H:J ratio is close to 1.0:1.0, such as 1.3:1.0), the opening508 will be close to the upper edge of the panel. In some instances,this may be advantageous because when, for example, the container ispositioned as shown in FIG. 10, the closer opening 508 is to the upperedge of the panel, the less the contents of the container will contactthe opening and any cover, when present.

Further, the size of opening 508 in relation to the panel may also varywidely. For example, opening 508 may take up about 25%, about 35%, about45%, about 55%, about 65%, about 75%, about 85%, about 95%, etc. (e.g.,between from about 20% to about 95%, between from about 30% to about95%, between from about 40% to about 95%, between from about 50% toabout 95%, between from about 60% to about 95%, between from about 70%to about 95%, between from about 20% to about 75%, between from about20% to about 65%, between from about 20% to about 55%, between fromabout 20% to about 45%, between from about 30% to about 95%, betweenfrom about 35% to about 85%, between from about 35% to about 75%,between from about 40% to about 70%, etc.) of the total surface area ofthe panel.

All of the compositions and methods disclosed and claimed herein can bemade and executed without undue experimentation in light of the presentdisclosure. While the compositions and methods of this disclosure havebeen described in terms of specific embodiments, it will be apparent tothose of skill in the art that variations may be applied to thecompositions and/or methods and in the steps or in the sequence of stepsof the methods described herein without departing from the concept,spirit and scope of the inventions. More specifically, it will beapparent that related or similar agents or steps may be substituted forthe agents or steps described herein while the same or similar resultswould be achieved. All such similar substitutions and modificationsapparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit,scope and concept of the inventions as defined by the appended claims.

Each of the patent and non-patent documents referred to herein arehereby incorporated in their entirety.

1. A commercial package for liquid cell culture media or seracomprising: (i) a container comprising: (a) a first side and a secondside, wherein the two sides are substantially planar and are disposedessentially parallel to each other; (b) a front end surface and a rearend surface, wherein the two end surfaces are substantially planar andare disposed essentially parallel to each other; (c) a planar bottom,adjoining and essentially perpendicular to the two sides and the twoends; (d) a top, wherein the top comprises an opening for access to theinterior of the container, and wherein the opening is disposed atapproximately a 45 angle with respect to the front end; and optionally,(e) a cap, configured to provide a sterile seal of the container,wherein the cap may be reversibly turned from a sealed configuration toan open configuration by a rotational movement of approximately 90 andwherein the container and cap provide a visual indication of the open orclosed state of the cap; (ii) a labeling system wherein the capcomprises a coded visual indicator of the contents of the containercomprising a color and a number; and (iii) a label on the container inwhich the number and color are repeated, and in which the color andnumber are indicative of the contents of the container.
 2. A commercialpackage for liquid cell culture media or sera comprising: (i) acontainer containing the liquid cell culture media or sera, saidcontainer comprising: (ii) a top, wherein the top comprises an openingfor access to the interior of the container, and wherein the opening isdisposed at approximately a 45 angle with respect to the front end; and(iii) a cap, configured to provide a sterile seal of the container,wherein the cap may be reversibly turned from a sealed configuration toan open configuration by a rotational movement of approximately lessthan 360 and wherein the container and cap provide a visual indicationof the open or closed state of the cap; (iv) a labeling system whereinthe cap comprises a coded visual indicator of the contents of thecontainer comprising a color and a number; and (v) a label on thecontainer in which the number and color are repeated, and in which thecolor and number are indicative of the contents of the container.
 3. Acommercial package for liquid cell culture media or sera comprising: acontainer containing the liquid cell culture media or sera, saidcontainer comprising: a cap, configured to provide a sterile seal of thecontainer; a labeling system wherein the cap comprises a coded visualindicator of the contents of the container comprising a color and anumber; and a label on the container in which the number and color arerepeated, and in which the color and number are indicative of thecontents of the container.
 4. The package of any of claims 1-3, whereinthe package contains animal serum.
 5. The package of claim 4, whereinthe animal sera is bovine sera, heat inactivated bovine serum, donorbovine serum, donor bovine serum with iron, fetal bovine serum, UScertified fetal bovine serum, US certified heat inactivated fetal bovineserum, dialyzed fetal bovine serum, ES cell qualified fetal bovineserum, Australia qualified fetal bovine serum, Canada qualified fetalbovine serum, New Zealand qualified fetal bovine serum, US qualifiedfetal bovine serum, non-US qualified fetal bovine serum, Australiaqualified heat inactivated fetal bovine serum, Canada qualified heatinactivated fetal bovine serum, New Zealand qualified heat inactivatedfetal bovine serum, US qualified heat inactivated fetal bovine serum,non-US qualified heat inactivated fetal bovine serum, ultra-low Ig fetalbovine serum, horse serum, heat inactivated horse serum, newborn bovinecalf serum, heat inactivated newborn bovine calf serum, chicken serum,goat serum, lamb serum, porcine serum, or rabbit serum.
 6. The packageof any of claims 1-3, wherein the package contains cell culture media.7. The package of claim 6, wherein the package contains base mediumeagle (BME), BGJb medium, Basal Media Eagle (BME), Brinster's BMOC-3Medium, CMRL Medium, CO₂-Independent Medium, Cryopreservation Medium,Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Media (D-MEM), F-10 Nutrient Mixtures, F-12Nutrient Mixtures, Glasgow Minimum Essential Media, Grace's Insect CellCulture Media, Improved MEM Zn++ Option (Richter's Modification), IPL-41Insect Media, Iscove's Modified Dulbecco's Media, Leibovitz's L-15Media, McCoy's 5A Media (modified), MCDB 131 Medium, Media 199, MediumNCTC-109, Minimum Essential Media (MEM), Modified Eagle Medium (MEM),Opti-MEM® I Reduced Serum Media, RPMI Media 1640, Schneider's DrosophilaMedium, Waymouth's MB 752/1 Media, Williams Media E, media formulatedfor amniotic fluid cells, media formulated for chorionic villus samples,media formulated for peripheral blood lymphocytes, or media formulatedfor bone marrow cells.
 8. A storage system for liquid material productswherein the liquid material products are marketed through a catalog, thesystem comprising: storage containers for a plurality of liquidmaterials, wherein each container includes a color code associated witha family of products and a 1 to 8 digit number associated with a productwithin that family, wherein each liquid product listed in the catalogcan be identified by a color followed by a 1 to 3 digit number; andfurther wherein the color code and number are prominently displayed oneach container for ease of identification by a user.
 9. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the container comprises a label attached to one or moresides of the container and wherein the container further comprises acap, and wherein the color and number are prominently displayed on thelabel on one or more sides of the container and also prominentlydisplayed on the cap.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the containercomprises flat surfaces on the front, rear, bottom, left and rightsides, and a top providing an angled opening, such that the opening isvisible and accessible when the container is standing on the bottomsurface, lying on the front surface, or lying on the front surface withanother container of the same shape stacked on top of the container andlying on the rear surface thereof.
 11. The system of claim 10, whereinthe opening is covered by a cap, and wherein the top of the cap isaccessible and viewable at a 45 angle above and in front of thecontainer when the container is standing on the bottom surface, lying onthe front surface, or lying on the front surface with another containerof the same shape stacked on top of the container and lying on the rearsurface thereof.
 12. The system of claim 8, wherein the container is awedge type bottle having a generally triangular shape with roundededges.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein the container is a book-likebottle with a hinged, vertically opening cap, an angled access opening,and large flat surfaces for easy user labeling and annotation.
 14. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the container is a two chamber squeezablebottle with a large access opening and a screw-off upper chamber, whichtransfers liquid from the bottom chamber into the top chamber through acentral tube when squeezed.
 15. The system of claim 8, wherein thecontainer is a cone shaped bottle designed to accept slip-on conicaluser labels.
 16. The system of claim 8, wherein the container is a twolayer bottle with a collapsible inner layer and a hard outer shell andcomprises a prominent flap for user labeling.
 17. The system of claim 8,wherein the container is a wide-mouthed bottle with an angled body toallow for easy handling and label viewing.
 18. The system of claim 8,wherein the container is a slide-top bottle with a large top permittinga dual opening lid for pipetting and pouring.
 19. The system of claim 8,wherein the container is a flat, stackable bottle with large areas foruser labeling and annotation and a low angled access opening for easypipetting.
 20. The system of claim 8, wherein the container is aflexible top bottle.
 21. The system of claim 8, wherein the container isa toggle top bottle with a slot in the handle that accepts anidentification tag.
 22. The system of claim 21, wherein the containercomprises a label with a removable identification tag that is compatiblewith the slot in the handle.
 23. A method for commercial marketing ofliquid material products wherein the liquid material products aremarketed through a catalog, the method comprising: providing tocustomers or potential customers a catalog of liquid material productswherein the products are listed in categories; and providing the liquidmaterial products in storage containers, wherein each container includesa color code associated with a family of products and a 1 to 3 digitnumber associated with a product within that family, wherein each liquidproduct listed in the catalog can be identified by a color followed by a1 to 3 digit number; and further wherein the color code and number areprominently displayed on each container for ease of identification by auser.
 24. A method for improving efficiency in a laboratory setting inwhich sterile liquid materials are transferred into and out ofcontainers while maintaining the sterility of the transferred materialsand of the materials remaining in the containers comprising: providingsterile liquid materials in containers that provide openings and caps toprovide access and to seal the opening that are oriented at anergonomically advantageous angle for insertion of a pipette device;providing a cap that is openable with one hand, that moves from an opento a closed position with a rotational turn of less than 360, and thatincludes a visual indication that the cap is in the open or closedposition; providing a label on the container that includes a prominentcolor code that identifies the type of product in the container and aone to three digit numeral in prominent type and in the color of thecolor code that identifies the individual product within the producttype so the product is easily identified without relying on small type;and providing a matching label on the cap that prominently displays thecolor code and the colored numerals that match those on the containerlabel.
 25. An improved method of providing liquid material products foruse in a biological laboratory, wherein the liquid material products aremarketed through a catalog, the method comprising: providing to users anelectronic catalog of liquid material products wherein the products arelisted in categories; and providing the liquid material products instorage containers, wherein each container includes a color codeassociated with a family of products and a 1 to 3 digit numberassociated with a product within that family, wherein each liquidproduct listed in the catalog can be identified by a color followed by a1 to 3 digit number; and further wherein the color code and number areprominently displayed on each container for ease of identification by auser.
 26. A system for online marketing of products for use in abiological laboratory to a plurality of users, wherein the products aremarketed through a catalog, the system comprising: a server computercomprising: a central processing unit, software storage media andsoftware effective to provide a user-interactive graphical userinterface (GUI); a storage medium for storing user preference database;a firewall to limit access to the server to only authorized users; andan electronic connection to a network accessible to user computers;wherein one or more products in the catalog are each associated with acolor and a 1 to 3 digit number, letters or combinations thereof forease in ordering.
 27. The system of claim 26, wherein the servercomputer and user computers are connected through the world wide web.28. The system of claim 26, wherein the at least one of the server andone or more client computers are connected to the network with awireless connection.
 29. A container with seven panels, the panels ofthe container comprising: (i) a front panel and back panel, each ofwhich is rectangular in shape and having a height to width ratio ofbetween 1.5 to 1.0 and 3.0 to 1.0; (ii) two side panels each having fiveedges, wherein two of the edges are vertical edges which are parallel toeach other, wherein one of the edges is a horizontal edge that islocated at the bottom of the panel, and two of the edges are angled,upper edges which each extend upward from different vertical edges andmeet to form an upside down V; (iii) a base panel which is rectangularin shape; and (iv) two angled, upper panels which are rectangular inshape; wherein the above panels are referred to with reference to thecontainer resting on the base panel.
 30. The container of claim 29,which further contains an opening in at least one of the angled, upperpanels.
 31. The container of claim 30 in which the opening is designedto accept a cover.
 32. The container of claim 31, in which the cover isa cap.
 33. The container of claim 29, which further contains a labelwhich identifies the contents of the container.
 34. The container ofclaim 29, which has an inner volume in a range selected from the groupconsisting of: (i) from about 25 milliliters to about 1000 milliliters;(ii) from about 75 milliliters to about 500 milliliters; (iii) fromabout 125 milliliters to about 500 milliliters; (iv) from about 250milliliters to about 1000 milliliters; and (v) from about 250milliliters to about 50 milliliters